A year ago, Tane Edmed played at Eden Park in front of 1867 people. It’s about to get real

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Last September, Wallabies five-eighth Tane Edmed played at Eden Park for North Harbour in the National Provincial Championship in front of 1867 spectators.

On Saturday, the rookie playmaker is set to run out in front of a sold-out crowd of 50,000 fans, most of them desperate for New Zealand to continue their 38-year winning run at the ground against the Wallabies. What a difference a year makes.

Edmed showed strong form during his stint in the NPC, and that helped earn him his first Wallabies cap, against Ireland in Dublin in November. After a difficult first Test start for the Wallabies in their loss to Argentina in Sydney, the Brumbies five-eighth reflected on how his time in New Zealand changed his career for the better.

“It’s definitely been a bit of a rollercoaster year since then [playing in the NPC],” he said. “I came over here [New Zealand] to just get better as a rugby player, and I felt like it definitely served its purpose.

“I came away with some really good education, some good coaches, some good players, a new way of playing rugby, and that’s what I was looking to get out of it.

“The bonus was that I got picked up for the spring tour, which was obviously unbelievable. It wasn’t the main goal, but it was definitely really cool.

Tane Edmed had a difficult full Test debut for the Wallabies against Argentina.

“Since then, it’s been a bit up and down, but I’ve just tried to keep my process really consistent. That’s all I’ve ever tried to do. Things outside of my control, I haven’t really tried to let those worry me too much.”

Edmed has played three Tests for the Wallabies, each of them providing unique challenges.

On his debut against Ireland, he lasted three minutes and had to leave the field due to a head knock. Against South Africa in Cape Town, Edmed had to come on after 40 minutes and play inside centre, a position he’s not overly familiar with. In his last Test against Argentina, in Sydney, he made a costly error, getting his free kick charged down by Pumas captain Julian Montoya for a try.

Each of the experiences has provided Edmed with a crucial learning curve at the start of his Test career.

Allan Alaalatoa could make his return to the Wallabies after injuring his shoulder in the second Test against the British and Irish Lions.

“I’ve been thrown into a difficult situation against South Africa, and I felt like I did a pretty reasonable job at 12,” he said. “And then to start last week in the Argentina game was again another bit of experience for me to kind of learn from.”

The Wallabies will be without two-time John Eales medallist Rob Valetini at Eden Park due to calf tightness, but the potential return of tight-head prop Allan Alaalatoa from a shoulder injury will provide Australia with a stronger scrum at one of the toughest venues in world rugby.

Brumbies captain Alaalatoa was part of the squad for two Tests against Argentina and was proud of the fightback shown in the victory in Townsville and the defeat in Sydney, but believes the Wallabies must address their slow starts to have any chance of becoming the first team to beat New Zealand at Eden Park since France in 1994.

“I think for us there’s plenty of growth,” Alaalatoa said. “What we saw over the course of two weeks was lots of pride for the jersey and the fightback in both games.

“I think the point for us though is to not let teams get up at the start ... I was very proud to watch the fight that the boys had to come back and to win one [in Townsville], and to give ourselves an opportunity to potentially win the next [in Sydney], but there’s definitely some key learnings in there for us that we need to address this week.”

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