Wallaby fortress primed for siege

By WYNNE GRAY

Telstra Stadium, formerly known as Stadium Australia, has become an almost impregnable fortress for Australian rugby.

In its stirring three-year history, the Wallabies have felt defeat at the Sydney ground just once in seven tests.

Most of the magic has come from the Wallabies. The only time their golden run was punctured was two years ago when Jonah Lomu tiptoed down the sideline to secure a 39-35 win for the All Blacks.

The other conjuring acts have favoured the Wallabies, like their series win last year against the Lions and Toutai Kefu's try against the All Blacks to crown John Eales' farewell from international rugby.

As Australia bathes in the unremitting euphoria of its Commonwealth Games triumphs, it seems the nation expects that success to trickle down to tonight's Bledisloe Cup decider between the Wallabies and the All Blacks.

But if Australia craves success, New Zealand probably yearns for it more after lean seasons and, especially, the disappearance of the Bledisloe Cup in 1998.

Andrew Mehrtens was one All Black who voiced the feelings this season that New Zealand was sick and tired of hearing about the "bulging Australian trophy cabinet."

In Christchurch in the opening game, Mehrtens did his bit with immaculate goalkicking in atrocious weather to give the All Blacks the chance tonight to regain the cup.

He speaks about revelling in the pressure of kicking for victory, and it may be in such a high-stakes test, with a referee such as Andre Watson who can be picky, that goalkicking will be the difference between these two sides.

In the very top league it is Mehrtens, Australian Matthew Burke or England's Jonny Wilkinson who win games with their kicking precision.

Mehrtens has missed only eight from 34 attempts this test season, while his tactical kicking is also first rate.

Burke compares with goalkicking, but Stephen Larkham does not control the tempo of a test as much with his boot.

Because of that he prefers to run or recycle possession, a tactic which threatened at Christchurch but could not quite prise open the All Black defences.

There were signs of the danger, though, of organised attacking precision which hurt the Springboks in the first quarter and then disappeared after the brawl in Brisbane.

The Wallabies' defence was broken four times as well from counter-attacks, a method the All Blacks like to use to try to disrupt these highly patterned games.

However, for all the discussion about defence, kicking and counter-attack, the onus will be on which tight five dominate and how the Richard McCaw-George Smith duel goes for the loose ball.

The All Blacks lost another tight forward yesterday when hooker Mark Hammett failed a fitness test on his damaged knee, with a decision still to be made on whether he travels on to South Africa. That leaves Tom Willis to start in his first major international, with his former Otago age-group colleague Andrew Hore moving into the reserves.

Losing Norm Maxwell and Hammett this week will reduce some of the mauling, driving cohesion the pack want to generate, while the scrum may not be as potent either.

Replacements Simon Maling and Willis are steady and should have a lineout empathy from their provincial association, although last year in the final-quarter intensity at Stadium Australia the lineout disintegration was a major factor in the All Black defeat.

A repeat of the forward rhythm that produced quick ball against South Africa will send the All Blacks into a strong position to turn up the heat.

They need to be as ruthless as the Wallabies have been composed if they are to stretch their run under John Mitchell to 10 straight victories.

In a test which is forecast to be tight, the sort of late change which introduces Willis could be enough to be make a difference.