‘Hurting’ All Blacks eye Eden Park ‘statement’ post Wallabies draw

The wounded All Blacks will look to restore pride against Australia at their Eden Park fortress on Sunday after last week’s 16-16 draw further dimmed their aura of invincibility in coach Ian Foster’s first game in charge.

Foster criticised the three-time world champions’ “relatively poor” game management for the drawn first Bledisloe Cup Test in Wellington, and warned they will not make the same mistake in round two on Sunday.

As Test rugby’s resumption goes into its second week in New Zealand, where there is no community Covid-19 transmission, a crowd of 47,000 is expected to pack Auckland’s Eden Park -- where the All Blacks are unbeaten in 43 games.

However, the Wallabies are riding high. After going into the first Test as underdogs, and ended up outmuscling the All Blacks for much of the game and saw a penalty bounce off the posts after the final hooter.

But whenever Australia has started a Bledisloe series well in recent years they have generally been thrashed the following week, and Foster warned they can again expect a vast improvement from the All Blacks.

“We’re hurting and it’s the way it should be. We know we’ve got to respond,” said Foster.

While Foster rated the All Blacks scrum and lineout as effective, he said “how we used those as weapons was probably relatively poor” and also called for more aggression.

Among five changes, Foster included blockbusting wing Caleb Clarke and moved no-nonsense hooker Dane Cole into the front row, while Beauden Barrett returns from injury to take over the fullback role.

His 36-Test brother Scott Barrett will come off the bench in the second half, while experienced centre Anton Lienert-Brown starts in place of Rieko Ioane, who fluffed a certain try last week when he failed to ground the ball properly.

Foster said he accepted criticism that the All Blacks lacked their usual edge in Wellington.

“Is it time for a statement? Well, yes it is.”

Despite Australia’s delight after the first Test, Rennie had no room for sentiment as he made four changes to his line-up.

Hooker Folau Fainga’a, who struggled at lineout time and nearly gifted the All Blacks a try with a sloppy pass, makes way for Brandon Paenga-Amosa, and the size of the pack has been bolstered by Ned Hanigan replacing Pete Samu in the loose forwards.

Star outside back Jordan Petaia and Queensland Reds flanker Liam Wright have been added to the bench.

Agence France-Presse