All Blacks: Fresh focus on Sydney

Victor Vito. Photo / Getty Images

Australia will be jet-lagged, bruised, battered and almost dead on their feet when they begin training this week - a fact the All Blacks will ignore entirely.

The only certainty the All Blacks have about their clash on Saturday is that they will face a fiercely Wallabies side; a team desperate to record a win against New Zealand after nine successive defeats.

That's the official line - but the All Black selection might suggest they really believe the Wallabies will have willing minds but ailing legs.

Injury to Dan Carter means Aaron Cruden will start and Colin Slade backs up. But there may be other changes, with coach Graham Henry revealing that regular bench men Sam Whitelock, John Afoa, Israel Dagg, Piri Weepu, Victor Vito and Corey Flynn might start.

To some, that might seem like over-confidence. But if the selectors do make all or some of those changes, it will be a reflection of the faith they hold in the squad's depth.

Dagg and Whitelock in particular have made high impact appearances off the bench and the coaches are keen to reward their efforts with a starting spot. Vito is another the coaches would like to see let loose from the start to see how much damage he could cause with his ball carrying and lethal acceleration.

The Wallabies will be playing their third test in three weeks - the others having been at altitude. The flight from South Africa will have delayed physical recovery.

The All Blacks will have had two weeks off and the expectation is, regardless of the final selection, the team will be focused.

"I can't remember a soft game with Australia," says assistant coach Wayne Smith. "I will be really disappointed if we are not on fire, hugely aggressive and urgent. The game will be on top of the ground and Sydney has not been a happy hunting ground for us so there is everything to play for.

"I can recall in 1999 being part of John Hart's management team and playing in Sydney after we had won the Tri Nations the week before in South Africa. The Wallabies were missing Stephen Larkham that day and they beat us by a record margin.

"I can remember we were presented with the Tri Nations trophy and the Wallabies had the Bledisloe Cup and I was so disappointed. I really regret that we dropped our standards that day just because we had already won the competition and I don't want to feel like that again."

The absence of Carter will be a blessing in one regard; it will heighten the awareness of the leaders in the team that they have to to take the pressure off Cruden. The Wallabies will see the 21-year-old as the weak link.

"They will target that channel," says Smith. "They did that even when Daniel was playing and he had to make 24 tackles in the Christchurch test. Aaron is going to have a heavy workload but he knows that. He knows what's coming. We are not concerned about him being overwhelmed by the situation. He's highly driven and he'll be fine in that respect. I think what you worry about is him thinking he has to be Daniel Carter.

"All we want is for him to play his natural game. To be composed, to be assured and make sure he is strong on defence. It is also important for him to put mistakes behind him. That's where the leaders of the team have to play a role and help him out as much as they can.

"If he can do all that then he'll have a good game."

A decision will be made within the next few days about the goal-kicking. Smith would be comfortable with Cruden taking that role.

"I think he can handle it. He has been working hard with the best kicking coach in the world, Mick Byrne. I have seen Aaron make big improvements."