You can’t even guess at the spot where Matt Burke scored his famous try in Dunedin in 2001 because there’s now a building materials and hardware store on the site.
That’s how long it has been since the Wallabies won on Kiwi soil.
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The final demolition of the old Carisbrook ground was completed in 2014 when bulldozers did what so few visiting Test teams could do.
Smashing down the parapets at the renowned “House of Pain” was a rare feat which made Australia’s 23-15 victory so special 22 years ago.
Playing under a roof to keep out the wild weather of New Zealand’s South Island was all in the planning of Forsyth Barr Stadium where the Wallabies and All Blacks meet on Saturday.
The triumph of 2001 was a beacon of how to play the All Blacks.
The Wallabies found little weaknesses and attacked them. They pressured the throwing of All Blacks captain Anton Oliver and his lineout, they comprehensively outkicked the All Blacks in general play and big players like Steve Larkham and George Smith shone. Of course, there is always huge defence.
A younger, more hirsute Eddie Jones was coach and his roll call of players included standout playmaker Larkham and skipper John Eales, who was in the final month of his decorated Test career.
Being adaptable started even before the kick-off when the young Kiwi picked, at late notice, to sing the Australian anthem murdered it.
He seemed to forget the words. He stopped. The sound system misfired. While he was girt by embarrassment, the Wallabies belted out the words themselves.
A flurry of light rain came across Carisbrook on that sunny afternoon but nothing to turn it into the muddy, cold, high-wind arena that many Test teams had sunk in previously.
Jones has a busy week to fix the ragged elements of last weekend’s patchy 38-7 tumble to the All Blacks at the MCG.
He still found time to revisit Carisbrook, 2001 as one of his favourite all-time memories of Tests against the All Blacks.
“We played so bright, mate,” Jones recalled.
“We targeted their lineout and made them play lineouts, we just kept turning them around with our attacking kicks in behind and we pressured them in the greasy conditions.
“When the All Blacks are under pressure, they make errors like any team and we did that brilliantly.
“Those are the wins that are etched in history when you win at one of their famous grounds.
“It was one of Steve Larkham’s best Tests. He’s remembered for his field goal at the (1999) World Cup and his great running play but not spoken of enough for his tactical acumen being absolutely first class that day.”
It’s a fair blueprint for Dunedin, 2023.
It will take all of the Wallabies’ most senior players to stand tall to make it a fight past the 70th minute.
In 2001, Burke’s classic score came after Larkham had put him into a hole. With the defence closing, Burke grubbered ahead, retrieved and slid over for a key try. Team-mates later chided him for a shin-kick miscue with the most beautiful outcome.
The Wallabies were also awarded a penalty try when winger Joe Roff was impeded.
Jones still remembers the uncorking of emotion after the first win by a Wallabies side in Dunedin after 96 years of trying. Roars of celebration and laughter bounced off the timber rafters of the old Skyline Leisure Lodge in 2001.
“I can still remember the party. It was an old-fashioned party back then…wild and everyone enjoying the moment,” Jones said.
“You could feel part of the land rising to a degree while the rest of the country was subsiding deflated.”
Only the heritage-listed Neville Street turnstiles of the old Carisbrook now remain.
That’s unless you visit PlaceMakers, the large building materials and hardware centre now on the site.
Branch operator Justin Macready has turned a corner of PlaceMakers into a shrine to the old Carisbrook.
He has displayed Test match programs, a few old blue plastic bucket seats, Otago rugby relics, a “Party At Tony Brown’s” T-shirt, jerseys, cricket memorabilia and the 4m Carisbrook street sign he paid $1500 for after it had been hidden in a local’s backyard.
“It’s a wee Carisbrook museum. We are proud of our history and the visitors that come through because we do cover two-thirds of the old rugby ground,” Macready said.
“When the NZ-Ireland Test was in town last year, we had a bunch of former All Blacks at a function with fond memories of Carisbrook.
“Kees Meeuws, John Timu, Victor Simpson, Olo Brown, Andy Leslie and Earle Kirton were amongst the guests and, of course, Arthur Stone, the All Black of the 1980s who buys products from us as a builder.”
When Macready was asked if the Wallabies’ 2001 success was up in lights with a feature shelf of memorabilia, he threw a wry smile.
“I’ve got a hazy memory on that Test,” he sidestepped.
“We are planning a map of the old ground with ‘famous sites’ from rugby history marked on our premises. I promise we’ll put a mark where the Matt Burke try was scored so you Aussies can visit.”
