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The All Blacks are fully fit for Bledisloe III in Sydney on Saturday night and according to assistant coach John Plumtree, they are also fully motivated to save the big trophy at their first opportunity.
Plumtree confirmed in Sydney on Tuesday that after a couple of hits since arriving for their Tri-Nations campaign, which begins with the second half of the four-game Bledisloe Cup series, all 36 players were in the selection photo for this week .
That means loose head prop Joe Moody, who left the field after half an hour of Bledisloe II in Auckland with a blow to the head, and veteran Sam Whitelock, who missed that test due to continued concussion symptoms, They are back in the mix for what it is. It is sure to be a staunch challenge from Wallaby at ANZ Stadium.
Both will almost certainly start, with Whitelock set to resume his second-row partnership with Patrick Tuipulotu, leaving Scott Barrett in shape again to continue on his way back from the bench.
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Dave Rennie’s team must win both games against the All Blacks on their Tasman side to end a 17-year streak for Bledis-woe against the New Zealanders.
They seemed to have a pretty decent chance of that after forcing a 16-16 draw at Bledisloe I in Wellington, but were well beaten 27-7 by a greatly improved All Blacks team a week later at Eden Park.
But Plumtree said there was no chance the All Blacks would buckle up for their first clash of the redesigned Tri-Nations competition after a fairly honest review of their victory in Auckland. Even more so when one takes into account that the New Zealanders have lost three in the parched soil of the “Land of Luck”.
“We were far from perfect in Auckland. We did a long review [on Monday] with the guys and there are clearly loads to work on, ”the All Blacks forwards coach told the media on a zoom call from Sydney. “We have started that process. Our motivation is to play much better, keep going up and not back down in any way.
“To be fair, Australia would look at their performance and see that they had some opportunities as well. I think they crossed the test line a couple of times and didn’t lower it … the scoring line could have been a little different. They were not [oblivious] to all that. We understand that we have a lot to work on and we know that we are playing very well, so there is no lack of motivation to keep improving ”.
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Dane Coles says the All Blacks veterans know they set the pace for their younger teammates.
The All Blacks will have at least one key draft call to make this week, with forward Ardie Savea in shape staying in New Zealand on paternity leave. Outstanding Auckland and Blues No. 8 Hoskins Sotutu, 22, is considered the firm favorite to enter the starting lineup after a great season and two bench appearances in the first two games.
But Plumtree made clear that whoever was chosen on the team to be announced Thursday, there would be no expectations of replicating Savea’s unique style of hyper-aggressive and athletic play.
“It’s not really a challenge as such for whoever comes in,” Plumtree said. “The players who have to take Ardie’s place, we have a lot of faith and trust in them. They will bring a different skill set. We have Dalton Papalii and Hokins Sotutu, both excellent players. We have Akira Ioane, who also had a great Super Rugby season. We have some powerful players to replace Ardie.
“We are very confident that whoever takes Ardie’s place will do a very good job.”
Plumtree also expected more of the same, and perhaps even better, from a Wallabies team that had clearly earned the respect of the All Blacks thanks to two fairly competitive outings at Bledisloe.
“They are a physically tough team, they take your game, they are aggressive in almost every department. Dave did his homework and brought in a team of coaches who are very experienced. It is a team for which we have a lot of respect, ”added the first-year national assistant coach.
“They are fluid when they can attack, they get tough on the defensive line, they have used the ball extensively and stressed us on many occasions and their set pieces is an area in which we know they are going to come to us … That would have taken a lot of confidence out of his New Zealand tour.
“The way they played the game in New Zealand was quite impressive. Now they are playing at home and that is a completely different pot of fish. We respect that. “
Anthony Au-Yeung / Getty Images
Caleb Clarke and the All Blacks left the Wallabies agitated at Eden Park to land a hand in the Bledisloe Cup.
Clearly, the All Blacks have a few things going for them when they can play at the pace they achieved on their rebound from Eden Park. In a golden quarter hour after halftime, they simply knocked the Wallabies out of the paddock with three brilliant attempts and in total they forced a pitiful 40 missed tackles.
Plumtree said the keys to repeating that high-octane game were pretty simple:
“We all have to be on the same page in terms of what we do in attack and we all have to work very hard. Sometimes in Wellington we don’t work that hard without the ball to get into positions where we could play with that kind of intensity, and in Auckland I think we did.
“The challenge for us is to maintain that. When we get the ball, we know that we are a dangerous team with some dangerous players. But we also understand that Australia will do their best to pressure us and we have to be very smart in the way we play in Sydney.
The All Blacks have won their last three games in Sydney. A fourth will drive Bledisloe away for the 18th consecutive year.
