KEY POINTS:
The Wallabies have kept faith with captain Stirling Mortlock in midfield where they hope his destructive running can blunt some of Daniel Carter's venom in the rearranged All Black formation.
Coach Robbie Deans resisted the claims of repaired five-eighths Berrick Barnes and has retained Mortlock's partnership with Ryan Cross in a combination which will test the physical resilience of the All Blacks in Hong Kong tomorrow.
"That decision was settled some time ago and was not made in response to the All Blacks," Deans said yesterday.
Barnes had a long recovery from a shoulder injury which affected his ability to be involved fully when the Wallabies began a series of training camps after the sides met in Brisbane. Deans thought it best to ease him back into top rugby from the reserves.
Carter and Conrad Smith are effective All Black defenders but are much lighter than their rivals and the Wallabies are banking on their twin strike force to erode some of their opponents' flair.
"I felt me and Stirling went okay, we got a lot of confidence from Brisbane," said Cross who admitted the pair enjoyed the confrontational side of rugby.
The Wallabies have made five changes from the side which ceded the Bledisloe Cup in September. Four were forced by injury while lively halfback Luke Burgess has recovered from his knee problems which kept him out of rugby for several months and replaces Sam Cordingley.
Usual first choices Lote Tuqiri, Wycliff Palu, Dan Vickermann and James Horwill are still recovering or on the long-term injury list while utility forward Hugh McMenamin is also easing back to full fitness.
New selections are wing Drew Mitchell, No 8 Richard Brown, blindside flanker Dean Mumm and lock Mark Chisholm while 20-year-old flanker David Pocock is a new face on the bench.
The Wallabies' resources have been stretched especially at lock where top choices, Vickermann, Horwill and McMenamin are all unavailable.
Deans dismissed the breadth of the injured list as a fact of international sport and some of the "carnage" coaches had to deal with. He was more interested in judging his side in another benchmark test against the All Blacks. His squad had worked hard in training camps but that had to be balanced against a lack of matchplay.
"I said after our last meeting that we'd be happy to play the All Blacks in a carpark to have another game with them, and I stand by that," Deans said.
He suspected some of the Wallabies were still carrying revenge motives from the 28-24 defeat in Brisbane. That was understandable but would only benefit the Wallabies if the players effectively harnessed that disappointment.
