Richie McCaw has warned his team against complacency ahead of the Bledisloe Cup clash with Australia, with the All Blacks seeking to wrap up the Tri Nations title at Christchurch's AMI Stadium today. The New Zealand captain, who will lead out his side for the 51st time (one of those appearances came against the Barbarians in 2009) to equal the record set by Sean Fitzpatrick, the 1987 World Cup winner, said last week's 49-28 win over Australia in Melbourne was not as comfortable as it appeared, particularly at the breakdown.
"We've got to make sure we are better there," said McCaw. "And I'm sure they will look at areas where they can be better, too." McCaw noted his opposing captain Rocky Elsom's view that there were too many New Zealand bodies lying around when his side wanted quick ball. But McCaw said New Zealand had the same opinion and added that conceding turnovers was a frustration that every team wanted to eliminate.
"I think the big thing for us is that we want to focus on our performance rather than totally worrying about what they are doing," said McCaw. "It's our last home Test and we want to put a good performance here before we get on the road again and that's a big motivating factor. "They're going to fire into it - they always do - and we are going to have to match that." Elsom called for the Australia pack to ensure quick ball if they were to have any chance of ending their eight-game losing run against their trans-Tasman rivals.
"You've got to move those bodies as best you can whether they're on our side or attacking the ball. We've got to make sure that space is clear for Willie [Genia] to get out and do what he does best," said Elsom. "We've got to be able to play our ball and play it efficiently. "We've really focused on what we're doing and what we do when we have the ball. "We showed at the back end of the game last week that we needed to hold on to it, look after it, and be a bit more careful at times."
Genia, the scrum-half, is adamant Australia are capable of victory, even though the Wallabies have not triumphed in New Zealand since winning in Dunedin in 2001 and have not won in Christchurch since 1998. "Believing is the first part of winning," said Genia. "If you don't believe in it I don't think you should turn up, to be honest." Graham Henry, the All Blacks coach, had his final preparations for today's match midly disrupted when Alby Mathewson, the replacement scrum-half, left to attend the birth of his first child yesterday.
An All Blacks spokesman confirmed Mathewson had left the squad to fly to Wellington where his partner, Cara, had gone into labour. "He'll be flying back first thing in the morning [today]," added the spokesman. Australia's Faingaa twins will both start against New Zealand, Anthony having displaced Berrick Barnes at centre and Saia replacing Stephen Moore at hooker. The Faingaas became the 40th set of brothers to represent Australia at Test level when they both came off the bench in last weekend's defeat to the All Blacks and will start a Test together for the first time today.
Barnes, who came into the starting side last week as a replacement for Quade Cooper, the suspended fly-half, joins Moore on the bench as the Wallabies look to end a run of eight consecutive defeats to their trans-Tasman rivals. Kurtley Beale is the other change to the starting side and comes in at full-back with Adam Ashley Cooper moving to outside centre in place of the injured Rob Horne. * Agencies
