KEY POINTS:
All Blacks coach Graham Henry admits the lead-up to the Bledisloe Cup rematch with Australia at Eden Park on Saturday night looms as one of the most challenging weeks of his career.
Battling to win back public confidence following New Zealand's dismal showing at last year's World Cup, any feel good factor for Henry following the All Blacks' early season wins over Ireland and England has gradually dissipated.
Consecutive losses to South Africa and Australia have Henry facing ownership of the worst All Blacks losing sequence since John Hart's 1998 side lost five in a row.
Defeat on his home ground this weekend will set a new low for Henry, whose reappointment polarised the rugby community.
That his rival for the All Blacks' role Robbie Deans masterminded the Wallabies 34-19 triumph has simply intensified the scrutiny.
Henry acknowledged the pressure yesterday when conceding the Australians employed a superior strategy at ANZ Stadium.
"I'm nervous about the week. There's not a lot of time and the weather's not helping us," he said after the All Blacks trained on another soft ground.
At least Henry has been in tight spots before, accepting it was part of the territory.
"I've had a bit of practice over the last eight months of just trying to stay focused and forget about the things you can't control.
"I think even though its frustrating and you know its going on there's nothing you can do about it.
"It's the nature of the job. Every international sporting coach has these challenges and you just have to handle it."
A flawed game plan played into Australia's hands when the All Blacks were reluctant to kick for territory, making them susceptible to turnovers when caught in possession.
The post-mortem into a naive and error-ridden performance has culminated in Henry naming his strongest possible team.
The return of Richie McCaw is an obvious positive while Leon MacDonald, too "battered and bruised" to feature last week, is selected at fullback to provide another kicking alternative to Dan Carter.
Despite Carter's superb performance it was evident the All Blacks back three were too intent on running back into contact, even when deep inside their territory.
Mils Muliaina has moved to the wing to accommodate MacDonald.
"We feel those two will give us a lot more experience particularly under the ELVs (experimental law variations). We're looking for a bit of help from them," said Henry, who admitted his coaching under the new laws was a work in progress.
"What we (the coaches) can bring to the table is going to get better with more experience under these laws," he said.
"Hopefully we've learnt quite a bit from that so we'll be more competitive this week."
Other than welcoming back McCaw and MacDonald, Rodney So'oialo is back at No 8 and Jerome Kaino starts at blindside, revisiting the formation that played last year when Jerry Collins was available.
While the starting line-up appears the optimum, the selectors would not bend to pressure and reconsider Ma'a Nonu's position at second five-eighth.
Former coach Laurie Mains and selector Earl Kirton have lobbied for a kicking option in midfield alongside Carter, a role filled by Aaron Mauger or Luke McAlister last year to match the Matt Giteau-Berrick Barnes combination.
However, Henry said Nonu was there to stay.
"Ma'a's played pretty well. He's developing his kicking game but he's got some other strengths that are pretty important."
Nonu will be reunited in midfield with Conrad Smith, who faces the challenging task of marking Wallabies skipper Stirling Mortlock.
A decision on which halfback will start should be made tomorrow with Jimmy Cowan favoured to get over his knee injury before Andy Ellis recovers from his bruised ribs. Piri Weepu will start on the bench while Andrew Hore (bruised hip) or Keven Mealamu will know who starts at hooker.
All Blacks
Leon MacDonald, Mils Muliaina, Conrad Smith, Ma'a Nonu, Sitiveni Sivivatu, Dan Carter, Jimmy Cowan/Piri Weepu/Andy Ellis, Rodney So'oialo, Richie McCaw (captain), Jerome Kaino, Ali Williams, Brad Thorn, Greg Somerville, Andrew Hore/Keven Mealamu, Tony Woodcock.
Reserves: Andrew Hore/Keven Mealamu, John Afoa, Anthony Boric, Adam Thomson/Daniel Braid, Jimmy Cowan/Piri Weepu/Andy Ellis, Stephen Donald, Richard Kahui.
Wallabies
Adam Ashley-Cooper, Peter Hynes, Stirling Mortlock (captain), Berrick Barnes, Lote Tuqiri, Matt Giteau, Luke Burgess, Wycliff Palu, George Smith, Phil Waugh, Nathan Sharpe, James Horwill, Al Baxter, Stephen Moore, Benn Robinson.
Reserves: Tatafu Polota-Nau, Matt Dunning, Dan Vickerman, Hugh McMeniman, Sam Cordingley, Ryan Cross, Drew Mitchell.
- NZPA
