Tri Nations Preview – All Blacks vs Wallabies

Australia and New Zealand meet on Saturday in the third Tri Nations test of the season. It promises to be another classic Bledisloe Cup encounter between the two sides and 75000 tickets have already been sold at the MCG. The last time they met at the stadium in 1998, the Wallabies won 24-16.

All Blacks coach Graham Henry spoke about last year’s Australia-New Zealand Test in Brisbane.

“I have fond memories of that game. It epitomized what Test rugby is all about. It was low scoring, hugely contested and with good defence on both sides. I am expecting the same sort of encounter this year. I am expecting a huge game.

“The Wallabies-All Blacks games have got a history of being superb fixtures and if you ask the referees which game they would like to referee at the highest level they will say Australia v New Zealand because they know both sides want to go out and play rugby.

“And that’s a reflection of the competition between those two sides for a large number of years. Now there might have been the odd isolated incident that I don’t want to get into. I just want to get down to the point that these games are highly respected, they are seen as top competition. And I can see no difference on Saturday.”

He had a jab at the Springboks when asked about the off the ball incidents that marred last week’s encounter in Durban.

“There’s nothing worse than being clobbered off the ball when you’re not expecting it. That’s the worst thing in rugby and they are called cheap shots. That was discussed after the South African game, and has nothing to do with this game coming up.

“I just hope the officials are well aware of that going into the future of the game as we go on to the World Cup and after it.

George Gregan and Stephen Larkham will play their final games for the Wallabies at the MCG on Saturday, and Henry talked about the respect that his players had for the legendary duo.

“They’ve caused a lot of headaches over the years which is great. As a pair I think they’ve been leaders in the world in their time at nine and 10 and for a long time, we’ve got a lot of respect for that and a lot of respect for them as people.

“We’ll miss them, but I guess Father Time catches up and I guess there will be somebody else will take their place and rise again so those guys have been outstanding, outstanding competitors and outstanding people and I think Australian rugby should be very proud of them. I know our guys respect them.”

NZ backs coach Wayne Smith spoke about Rico Gear’s selection.

“Rico is a particularly brilliant player, he’s got outstanding evasion skills and he’s strong defensively. We’re just looking for some work rate to complement that and was good at training. I thought he was really on fire for the fixture.”

Smith was asked about Dan Carter’s recent form.

“It’s a privilege to have him, and to coach him, in the team. If he wasn’t on his brilliant best at the weekend he was still good. The week before he scored three tries and scored 29 points and people said he wasn’t playing at his best. I wouldn’t mind having those sorts of stats. I’m sure he’s looking to impose himself and play himself into the sort of form we know he can have.”

Australian coach John ‘Knuckles’ Connolly said huge defence and the elimination of errors would be the Wallabies main focus against the All Blacks. Connolly has made just one change to that starting 15, bringing Adam Ashley-Cooper on to the right wing ahead of  Drew Mitchell.

“New Zealand’s strength is in their depth. We saw the impact their bench made against South Africa last week and they are just so strong from 1 to 22.

“To beat them we will need to play our best rugby and do the little things well. You can’t afford to give the All Blacks any opportunities because they have incredible talent across the field and have the ability to hurt you from any position.

“In the modern game you can’t target any specific area, you’ve got to do everything well. Scrum, lineout, breakdown work, you have to be very accurate and precise. Mentally you have to be 100 percent there. Last year in Auckland we had a very good first half then we got very loose early in the second half, we made simple turnovers and let them back into the game.

“It will be a tremendous occasion for the players and a great spectacle for the fans. I think the fans will see a typically tough Test between Australia and New Zealand. Bledisloe Cups are battles first and foremost. It will be a great event and New Zealand as always will be up for the occasion and so will we.”

Matt Dunning is hoping to limit Carl Hayman in the scrum.

“He’s the rock that makes the whole thing just come together. He’s pretty impressive to scrummage against. Every scrum, his set up is identical. His engagement process, everything he does is like a good golfer’s routine. He seems to do it so easily, even when he gets tired.

“I think we can go a long way in the game if our scrum goes well. At the moment our best is a little bit behind them but if we contain them and deliver our ball, maybe that’s enough to get us the win.”

Australian forwards coach Michael Foley said the Wallabies pack was aware it must amend its technique.

“We have prepared specifically to scrummage a lot lower than against South Africa. That’s probably the biggest difference.”

George Smith spoke about the importance of nullifying Richie McCaw.

“You have to play on the edge. I don’t think McCaw was targeted by the Springboks intentionally. We will definitely try to nullify him in the game.”

The Teams:

New Zealand All Blacks:
For the All Blacks, Luke McAlister replaces the injured Isaia Toeava in the starting lineup, Chris Jack is back in the team after returning from paternity leave and Rico Gear replaces Sitiveni Sivivatu on the wing.

01  Tony Woodcock
02  Anton Oliver
03  Carl Hayman
04  Chris Jack
05  Troy Flavell
06  Jerry Collins
07  Richie McCaw (Captain)
08  Rodney So’oialo
09  Byron Kelleher
10  Daniel Carter
11  Joe Rokocoko
12  Aaron Mauger
13  Luke McAlister
14  Rico Gear
15  Mils Muliaina

16  Keven Mealamu
17  Neemia Tialata
18  Ross Filipo
19  Chris Masoe
20  Piri Weepu
21  Sitiveni Sivivatu
22  Nick Evans
 

Australian Wallabies:
The Wallabies have made only one change to the side that lost narrowly to South Africa in the opening game of the Tri Nations. Adam Ashley-Cooper wins a place on the wing.

01  Matt Dunning
02  Stephen Moore
03  Guy Shepherdson
04  Nathan Sharpe
05  Daniel Vickerman
06  Rocky Elsom
07  George Smith
08  Wycliff Palu
09  George Gregan
10  Stephen Larkham
11  Lote Tuqiri
12  Matt Giteau
13  Stirling Mortlock
14  Adam Ashley-Cooper
15  Julian Huxley

16  Adam Freier
17  Al Baxter
18  Mark Chisholm
19  Stephen Hoiles
20  Phil Waugh
21  Scott Staniforth
22  Mark Gerrard

Match Details:

Date: Saturday, 30 June
Venue: MCG, Melbourne
Kick-off: 20.05 Aus time / 10.05 GMT / 22.05 NZ time / 11.05 SA time
Referee: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
Touch judges: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa), Willie Roos (South Africa)
Television match official: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)
Assessor: Michel Lamoulie (France)