Pressure is on Australia but Eden Park holds no fears

TRI-NATIONS: New Zealand V Australia Tomorrow, Eden Park Aukland. Kick-off 8.35am ( Irish time). Live on Sky Sports 2WHILE ALL Blacks coach Graham Henry and his Australian counterpart Robbie Deans have talked only of focusing on their clash at Eden Park tomorrow, many will inevitably see it as a preview of the World Cup final.

The global showpiece begins at Eden Park in 35 days, with the final also scheduled there 43 days later – and the tournament’s draw charts a collision course for the world’s top two rugby sides to clash for the title.

If history is any guide, tomorrow’s game heaps added pressure on Australia, who have not won at the ground since 1986.

“Every ground that we play at matters when it’s a Test match and we want to win it,” All Blacks forwards coach Steve Hansen said.

“Auckland is obviously the home here in New Zealand where most of the big games are played because of the size of the venue. So the importance of those matches are usually right up there. Wanting to stay tight and a fortress for the want of a better term is pretty important.

“That’s where they are going to play the World Cup final. We want to be in it and we want to win it. So it’s important.”

Deans, predictably, has brushed off the hoodoo at Eden Park, where the All Blacks defeated the Wallabies to win 22-16 in their last match at the ground in 2009.

“It’s about now rather than the history,” said Deans, a New Zealander and former All Black assistant coach with intimate knowledge of his opponents.

“The All Blacks do draw strength from their record at the ground, but playing at Eden Park is not something to be feared. It’s a challenge and an opportunity to be embraced and enjoyed.”

The match will also be a dry run for World Cup organisers, with the east and west stands adding their temporary upper tiers and a bumper crowd expected to test the new capacity of 61,000.

The World Cup form-guide notwithstanding, the game also doubles as a Bledisloe Cup match and already has plenty of animosity bubbling away beneath the surface.

Few All Blacks have forgotten the Australian response when James O’Connor landed a sideline conversion to hand the Wallabies victory in their last encounter in Hong Kong last year. The last-gasp 26-24 win ended a 10-match losing streak to the All Blacks.

Hansen said earlier this week that the bravado across the Tasman sea had not figured in the All Blacks’ preparations, but it was clear some of it had gotten under the coach’s skin.

“Australians aren’t in awe of us; they probably don’t even respect us,” he said. “You only have to read what they have got to say. We have our own motivation, we don’t need anyone else to motivate us.

“The black jersey motivates us and has done for centuries and will continue to do so because it’s such an important jersey.”

Both teams opened their Tri-Nations campaigns with thumping wins over a South Africa side gutted of its top-line players.

Both have named their strongest sides to play each other, however, the Wallabies retaining the line-up that beat the world champion Springboks 39-20 in Sydney and the All Blacks bringing back a string of hardened campaigners among seven changes.

Number eight Kieran Read and totemic hooker Keven Mealamu add grunt to a beefed-up forward pack after missing the All Blacks’ 40-7 crushing of South Africa in Wellington last week, while Piri Weepu replaces Jimmy Cowan at scrumhalf.