All Blacks visits to Australia in the lead-up to Rugby World Cups have not been especially successful and Sydney on Saturday is a repeat of the 2011 exercise with the Investec Rugby Championship hanging on the outcome.
Back then, in Brisbane, it was the Tri Nations that was decided with a 25-20 win to Australia in which later events proved that pre-tournament results didn’t account for anything when it came to the World Cup.
In 2007 New Zealand lost their first game of the tournament to Australia 20-15 in Melbourne although they recovered to claim the Tri Nations that year.
Different elements are at play this time around but the fascination with the Test is no less intriguing.
Australia are clearly on the road to recovery under coach Michael Cheika. He has players from his Waratahs side who won the 2014 Investec Super Rugby title and who were knocked out in the semi-finals in 2015 while the Brumbies were beaten semi-finalists this year. That lifts confidence, even if the two semi-final winners were from New Zealand.
New Zealand on the other hand have been on a startling run which has seen them lose only twice since the last World Cup while they have introduced some vital new ingredients to maintain the potency of their mix. Backing that is the experience provided through some of the greatest figures in the game, in any era, skipper Richie McCaw and first five-eighths Dan Carter.
Their influence remains significant. McCaw will equal Irishman Brian O’Driscoll’s record of 140 Test appearances. In achieving that milestone McCaw has participated in only 10 losses, a winning percentage of 90 percent.
Carter, who returns at first five-eighths, goes into the Test nine short of becoming the first player to score 1500 points. A measure of his influence can be seen from the fact that with 14,000 points in the All Blacks’ Test history, Carter has contributed 10 percent of them.
However, with only two Tests remaining before the World Cup, and only one searching pool game, against Argentina, in prospect, the pressure is on the All Blacks to slip into top gear in Saturday’s Test and again next week at Eden Park.
The side named is close to full strength. Wing Nehe Milner-Skudder will make his debut. Ma’a Nonu’s absence while he recovers from a knock suffered in South Africa, means Sonny Bill Williams will be paired with Conrad Smith in the centres for his 26th Test match.
Julian Savea is back on the left wing while Ben Smith is at fullback for the first time in this campaign.
Luke Romano has been named to lock with Brodie Retallick with Samuel Whitelock starting on the bench, where Sam Cane makes his first appearance for the year after his break.
To win the Championship the spoils will go to Saturday night’s winner but if Australia are to reclaim the Bledisloe Cup for the first time since they lost it in 2003 they will need to win both in Sydney and Auckland.
New Zealand could put both issues beyond doubt with a win in Sydney and they are under pressure to provide a performance offering more cohesion and accuracy than what they have achieved this year.
As coach Steve Hansen said: “I am picking this to be a brutal contest, and one we are looking forward to. It will be about us implementing our gameplan and skillsets for 80-plus minutes.”
