Deans predicts game of unprecedented fury

Australia v New Zealand:AUSTRALIA WILL attack New Zealand at pace in their deciding Tri-Nations match in Brisbane today, the Wallabies coach Robbie Deans said.

The All Blacks lead the Tri-Nations standings on 14 points, one point ahead of the Wallabies, who have not won the annual Southern Hemisphere competition, which also involves South Africa, since 2001.

Deans, in his first season in charge after missing out on the All Blacks job late last year, said the preceding matches in the Tri-Nations had shown glimpses of the style he was trying to get his side to play.

"We've seen glimpses of it but this is a one-off encounter with everything at stake so I think you will see more than just a glimpse tomorrow," Deans told reporters in Brisbane yesterday.

"The key in this game is going to be (attacking) relentlessly because the All Blacks will be doing that. They will be attacking relentlessly for 80 minutes.

"But that's not something that daunts us; that's something that excites us.

"It will be fast, it will be furious, it will be physical and it will be intense and there will be drama - there will be drama galore. It will resemble nothing that has gone on before."

Deans added his side had not mentioned the 53-8 thrashing they received at the hands of the world champion Springboks in Johannesburg two weeks ago.

"We came up short in the physicality and the intensity," Deans said.

"The All Blacks own the Tri-Nations and Bledisloe Cups and they've owned them both for a long time. So they're not going to let them go easily.

"We haven't had them for a long time so there's a message in that alone. That's the question we've got to answer."

Deans also said while they had selected a physical centre pairing with captain Stirling Mortlock moving into inside centre in place of the injured Berrick Barnes with Ryan Cross outside him, their point of attack would not be one-dimensional.

"If we come along and just crash-bash that won't be enough," said Deans.

"To think that will be sufficient would be foolhardy, so there will be some subtlety as to where and how we attack, and we've given that a lot of thought."

The New Zealand tighthead prop John Afoa has been confirmed as a replacement for the decider.

The 126-kilo Afoa had been bracketed with Neemia Tialata for the match after struggling with a shoulder injury.

But Graham Henry confirmed yesterday the 24-year-old was available for the match.

New Zealand can win their fourth successive Tri-Nations title with victory in the match, though Henry conceded his side had been under immense pressure after they were thrashed 34-19 in Sydney in July.

The All Blacks, with captain Richie McCaw back in the fold after recovering from an ankle injury, reversed the result in Auckland a week later, romping to a 39-10 victory before beating South Africa 19-0 in Cape Town on August 16th.

"A win would be a big tick in the box for everyone involved in the group," Henry told reporters in Brisbane yesterday.

"They've had to stay alive. If we lost in Auckland or Cape Town we were history. The boys have gone through that experience for the past two test matches, which have been big tests."

Henry, who had a rotation policy that prompted controversy particularly after the All Blacks lost in the quarter-finals of the World Cup exit last October, kept faith with the side that had won the two previous Tri-Nations matches.

"The team's got pretty close as a group of people and they play for each other," he said.

"There has been a gradual move up the graph as the season goes on and it needs to be another one on Saturday because we won't win unless there is.

"Fifty percent of the side is new this year. It's a positive when you think you lose half the team and still be competitive."

AUSTRALIA:A Ashley-Cooper; P Hynes, R Cross, S Mortlock (capt), L Tuqiri; M Giteau, S Cordingley; B Robinson, S Moore, A Baxter; J Horwill, N Sharpe; R Elsom, G Smith, W Palu. Replacements: A Freier, M Dunning, H McMeniman, P Waugh, R Brown, B Sheehan, D Mitchell.

NEW ZEALAND:M Muliaina; R Kahui, C Smith, M Nonu, S Sivivatu; D Carter, J Cowan; T Woodcock, A Hore, G Somerville; B Thorn, A Williams; J Kaino, R McCaw (capt), R So'oialo. Replacements: K Mealamu, J Afoa/N Tialata, A Boric, A Thomson, P Weepu, S Donald, I Toeava.

Referee:Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa).