Rugby World Cup 2015 - Gregor Paul: What to make of the Wallabies

Motivation can't possibly be a problem for the All Blacks this week. A World Cup final should be more than enough in itself.

But it's against Australia- who in rugby terms at least are little brother. It's against Australia - who at times in the past decade have been a nauseating mix of over confidence and under performance.

It's against Australia - who have often talked way better than they have played. Who have often made more impact in bars, planes and burger bars and who know how to create a molehill but slap a big sign on it that says mountain.

The history will stoke the fires - put something in the belly for the All Blacks to run off. But what will be more prominent in the All Blacks mindset is that they will be encountering a vastly improved and newly determined Australia who are the last team to beat New Zealand.

Whatever the Wallabies were four years ago, they are not that now. They are not even the side they were eight months ago.

Many of their obvious problems have been fixed. They play now with a desire to be honest in terms of the commitment they give.

They have learned to love being Wallabies again and the extent of their ambition is to do nothing more than make Australians proud.

That much has become obvious in the way they have played this year. The soft underbelly has a protective armour over it now. The forwards don't flounce and pout the way they used to.

There is a bit of steel and mongrel in the way they go about their business and they have a loose trio that may just be the most effective at the World Cup.

Bernard Foley has added composure to his repertoire and Matt Giteau has helped there, too. And with a bit of quality ball, those two playmakers have impressed. England were ripped apart by Foley. No one had previously ever been ripped apart by Foley or ever thought there was a remote possibility of such a thing happening.

And of course, there is the fair dinkum Aussie attitude that comes with the package. Just as England assume it is their right to rule, Australians assume it is their right to win.
An incredibly tough 80 minutes awaits the All Blacks on Sunday morning. But a few questions will already have popped up for the coaching team as they work their gameplan into shape.

As much as the Wallaby pack has stiffened, is the armour impenetrable? The Pumas made a bit of a mess of both their scrum and lineout. The latter is perhaps the greater weakness as it is compromised by playing David Pocock and Michael Hooper together. The Wallabies have put all their win possession eggs into the breakdown basket.

The All Blacks may also be wondering whether Israel Folau is vulnerable. He's clearly not fit and despite Wallaby coach Michael Cheika insisting he has ultimate faith in Kurtley Beale - he clearly doesn't.

Folau was sent out on one leg and if that happens this week - which it inevitably will - the All Blacks will smell blood.

There's also got to be some realisation that the Wallabies don't look great when they are put under pressure. They handed Scotland the softest try on record in the quarterfinal and the other two came from a charge down and an intercept.

As the Pumas took control of the second half of the semifinal, the jitters gripped the Wallabies again. Their kicking game was poor, their lineout all over the place and they just couldn't get the ball.

There's every reason for the All Blacks to be wary and respectful of a team that has the game to beat them, but equally there's every reason for the All Blacks to see there are ample weaknesses for them to exploit.