Rugby: All Blacks coach's warning ahead of Wallabies showdown

David Havili on attack against the Wallabies last year. Photo / Photosport

A guaranteed dry track under Marvel Stadium's retractable roof and a Wallabies side that loves to use the ball points to typically a free-flowing Bledisloe Cup opener on Thursday night. The All Blacks, however, are being warned against the lure of reckless all-out attack as they seek to claim their first successive victories of the season.

It would be easy to believe the All Blacks seven-try domination of the Pumas in Hamilton featured a breathless attacking performance when in fact vision, variety and discipline laid the blueprint they will now attempt to tweak for the Wallabies.

Rather than attack the Wallabies with ball in hand the All Blacks are likely to be more clinical in their approach – to use their increasing set piece strength to grind Australia down before looking to exploit space.

The All Blacks new-look scrum featuring Tyrel Lomax, Samisoni Taukei'aho and Ethan de Groot continue their growth into a menacing unit – and other than the last quarter collapse against the Pumas in Christchurch, the lineout under Jason Ryan has improved out of sight.

While there will no doubt be times for Richie Mo'unga to back his instincts and challenge the line, he's likely to instead begin by guiding the All Blacks around the Melbourne venue via the boot – to repeatedly drive the Wallabies deep into their half and force them to take the risks.

Amid expectations the Wallabies will embrace their favoured width and flair, All Blacks assistant coach Scott McLeod hinted at a much more calculated approach from the visitors.

Attacking with gay abandon does not appear to be on the All Blacks agenda.

"They will encourage that game and they want to play that game to suit their skill level. We can't be seduced into that," McLeod said after the All Blacks trained at Powerhouse Junior Rugby Club in Newport on Sunday. "We still need to be able to play our game at our tempo."

Among the many lessons the All Blacks hope to absorb from their turbulent four-loss, three-win season is the ability to identify space. Mo'unga and David Havili in particular achieved this against the Pumas through deft kicking options but that approach will need to be tweaked somewhat against the Wallabies who do not defend as narrowly as Argentina.

Likewise, the congested defence the All Blacks used against the Pumas, who offered limited attacking strikes, will need to spread much wider to counter the Wallabies chasing width as they seek to ignite lethal finisher Marika Koroibete.

"We've had some really harsh lessons," McLeod said. "What we're most concerned about is putting a performance out there that we are happy with. We haven't got that right a number of times but we feel we have lately so we're trying to build on that."

All Blacks assistant coach Scott McLeod. Photo / Getty

Those lessons extend to the last time the All Blacks played under a roof in Dunedin when, following Angus Ta'avao's red card, they were far too loose in the second test defeat to Ireland.

"The way we've played against Argentina and South Africa the last four games is different from what we're going to experience against Australia so we're working on seeing our space they're hopefully going to give us and maintaining our space on defence as we got really compact against the Argies. We don't want to be that tight against Australia," McLeod said.

"We've played two teams that are very confrontational with good skills and kicking space so we've got to be able to adapt.

"Australia brings a lot more attacking threats, a lot more ball in hand and a higher skill level so we've had to plan for that.

"They've got skill across the park – one to 15 that can put the ball into space very quickly. They have outstanding footwork, passing and being able to play what they see in front of them. It's a little bit different from what we're playing so we need to be a lot better than we have been."

McLeod also noted Brumbies forwards coach Dan McKellar's fingerprints alongside Dave Rennie on the Wallabies evolving style.

"We've definitely seen a lot of common patterns of Brumbies play but also Rens and the combination of that."

Aside from the loose forwards, where the All Blacks are expected to promote Hoskins Sotutu to No 8 and possibly switch Scott Barrett from lock to blindside to replace Ardie Savea and Shannon Frizell's absences this week, minimal changes are likely for a team that must first rediscover consistency before they have the luxury of contemplating squad rotation.

"Both those boys who aren't here have set really high standards so that's the challenge for the guys coming in but they also need to bring their strengths and flavour so we're looking forward to that.

"It's an interesting one this far out from the World Cup. The selectors need to be seeing everybody but we currently are in a place where we need to perform and keep building on performances. I'm sure that's firmly on the selectors' minds."