Stamp out the feel-good factor around new Wallabies coach is the All Blacks focus for Sat

Stamping out the feel-good factor around new Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie is the All Blacks early focus as they brace for a tough Rugby Championship opener in Sydney.

The All Blacks believe McKenzie’s arrival will give their trans-Tasman rivals a major boost this season and particularly during his first match in charge.

“You only have to look back to when they had Robbie Deans in his first test – they gave us a good touch-up,” All Black centre Conrad Smith said.

“We have to expect the same. It brings a big fizz and it brings a whole new energy about it. They’ll have the feeling they are going to create something new with a new coach so we’ve just got to expect that and deal with it.”

Deans ended his six-year tenure as Australia coach with a poor record of three wins from 18 tests against New Zealand, but in his first match conjured a comprehensive 34-19 win in Sydney.

That was before All Blacks No 8 Kieran Read’s time, but he echoed Smith’s sentiments when asked what he expected from the McKenzie coached Wallabies.

“You look at the Aussies and they’ve played some test matches at a very high intensity [against the Lions]. So you look at where they’ve come from and you have to think they will be pretty primed.

“Then the circumstances around the new coach will have them excited, and give them that little bit of extra confidence.

“Its our job to go over there and try and smack that out of them pretty early.” While Australia became a bit of a known quantity during the Deans reign, the All Blacks coaching staff are wary of innovations McKenzie might bring.

Smith said changing from year to year had become a major weapon in the modern game, when teams met so regularly.

“I look back to when the South African team were dominating us in 2009, and then suddenly in 2010 it was a whole different psyche, and I think they’ll [Australia] approach this year in the same way.

“Last year we went really well but you have to change your game. If you try and play the same stuff and do the same things other teams will pass you by.

“We’ve looked at the competition this year and we think both Australia and South Africa will be better than last year. It’s the old thing that if you stand still you will get overtaken, so we will keep trying things.

“It’s hard sometimes. The easy option is to keep doing what you are doing, but we have to make a few mistakes to go forward and try a few things and take a few risks and that’s what we are doing.”

McKenzie has quickly named eight new caps in his 30-man squad and recalled mercurial Queensland first-five Quade Cooper. He’s also signalled an intention to change Australia’s fortunes at scrum time by dropping veteran Benn Robinson and opting instead for the mobile pair of Scott Sio and James Slipper.

The scrum has been a major focal point for both camps, with the All Blacks discovering plenty of issues during their first full hit-out under new rules designed to lessen the impact on engagement.

Read noticed the ball arrived at the back of the scrum more slowly and sometimes down a different channel than he was used to during Friday’s training match against Wellington and a Cantabrians XV.

Of the three injuries picked up by the All Blacks during that match – to Julian Savea, Steven Luatua and Francis Saili – midfielder Saili’s is the most serious.

And though prop Wyatt Crockett is unlikely to be available for the first test of the Rugby Championship, second five-eighth Ma’a Nonu (ankle) is expected to be fit.

– © Fairfax NZ News