Rolls-Royce ride and keeping Cheika in check

It’s Bledisloe Cup time, the most important time of all if you listen to Wallabies halfback Will Genia, who would rather end his country’s lengthy drought than win the World Cup next year.

All Blacks coach Steve Hansen won’t go that far, but he regularly calls it the second most important trophy to his team.

Here’s five burning questions ahead of the match tomorrow night.

Will Beauden Barrett thrive behind the Crusaders pack?

A few pistons aside, Beauden Barrett will get a chance to ride behind the same Rolls-Royce engine Crusaders first-five Richie Mo’unga took for a successful spin during Super Rugby.

It’s an opportunity for the first-five some still insist on calling the best player in the world, to quash the calls for Mo’unga to be promoted to the starting No 10 role.

Barrett didn’t light up Super Rugby down the stretch and not playing behind a Rolls-Royce pack doesn’t excuse the frequency with which his weak passes forced his targets to reach for their bootlaces. However, he wasn’t as bad as some are making out and is well set to silence his doubters on the big stage.

How long can Michael Cheika keep up the front?

The Wallabies coach has been somewhat subdued recently. But you get the feeling the ticking time bomb is due to erupt and it’s probably not going to take much.

Cheika’s post-match press conferences have been a gold mine for journalists since he took over as head coach of the Aussies. If he wasn’t ranting over an Aucklandbased paper giving him the clown treatment, he was slagging off officials for letting the All Blacks get away with murder.

But he mostly bit his tongue on last year’s northern tour, refusing to nibble on the bait England coach Eddie Jones relentlessly flung in his direction.

The 51-year-old has even managed to shut his trap (so far) this week, not needlessly arming the All Blacks with further motivation. Tick-tock.

Are the Wallabies a realistic chance?

Forget the fact the bookies are willing to cough up $4.55 if the Wallabies get up, absolutely they are. If their 2-1 series loss to Ireland in June revealed anything, it’s that they can front against a big and powerful forward pack, and aren’t that far off the pace.

Have the selectors got the midfield combination right?

Yes. Opting for the Crusaders pair of Ryan Crotty and Jack Goodhue makes a lot of sense. After all, they’ve just won a second consecutive Super Rugby title together.

Perhaps it was their superbly organised defence in their semifinal win against the Hurricanes, and in the final against the Lions, which locked them in.

Goodhue has only one test cap to his name, but has all the ingredients to kick on and become the All Blacks’ long-term centre.

Where’s the All Blacks’ new and innovated style?

After an underwhelming series win against France, Hansen was the first to admit there was plenty of work to do before the newly introduced innovations in style of play and structure were fully embedded.

He never expected it to only take three tests and it was evident by the All Blacks’ error rate that it’s going to take some time.

Don’t bank on a vast improvement in Bledisloe I, given the team’s only live action since the French series was during the ‘‘game of three halves’’ last week, which was more about giving the lungs a blow out.