Rugby test? This is an Aussie Rules town, mate

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A rugby test – what's that?

The mission is simple. Grab a coffee, catch a taxi or order a graze at a restaurant in Melbourne and then quiz the staff about tonight's Bledisloe Cup test at Melbourne's Etihad Stadium.

Are they going, who are they supporting and what did they make of the Wallabies' win over the Springboks last weekend?

Polite responses have followed puzzled shakes of the head. Invariably the answers have been in the negative and if they even know what the 15-man code is, it should be considered a minor triumph for any curious New Zealander looking to ruminate with them on the match ahead.

One taxi driver fixed this correspondent with the sort of stunned gaze usually reserved for drunken oafs that fetch the watery contents of their bellies over his dashboard. He had absolutely no idea what the fool in his passenger seat was gabbling about. The barista serving coffee just returned a blank stare. It was as if he had been asked to recite the gross domestic product of Kiribati.

He then broke into a sympathetic grin, and as if addressing an intellectually stunted simpleton, gently conveyed with a waggle of his head that he didn't follow "the footy".

Of course he wasn't talking about rugby – in the state of Victoria, only one code is addressed as "footy".

Aussie Rules is the main game in town, always has been, always will be.

Many Victorians, it seems, still struggle to differentiate between rugby and rugby league, despite the Storm being based in Melbourne for more than a decade. Now rugby is trying to make inroads.

Next year the Melbourne Rebels will join the Super 15, a side that will be coached by former Wallabies boss Rod Macqueen and have internationals such as former All Blacks prop Greg Somerville, English first five-eighth Danny Cipriani and injured Wallaby midfielder Stirling Mortlock on their books.

Despite these big names, it is notable that Macqueen, who this week launched the franchise's new garb in the city, has been unable to recruit any current Wallaby stars.

Good luck to the Rebels. For several years the Crusaders, at the urgings of then coach Robbie Deans, staged pre-season matches against the Western Force, but when the venture failed to make money it was canned.

Tonight's test is another chance to showcase the code with a Bledisloe Cup, and ironically it took the dodgy surface at Etihad Stadium to earn it some coverage in the sports sections of the local newspapers, which are saturated with AFL coverage.

Statistics, previews, gossip of where a local star is looking to buy his latest property, and player profiles dominate the sports section day after day after day. Ditto for the local TV networks.

A Wallabies upset against the All Blacks could knock the AFL off the back page tomorrow. But as any New Zealand fan in the city will tell you – don't count on it.

- © Fairfax NZ News