Test rugby far harder to crack — Foster

All Black assistant coach issues warning as Aussies bask in Waratahs’ Super victory

In what is likely to be a recurring theme this week, the All Blacks dropped gentle reminders yesterday that test football is all crunch and grind and an entirely different business from Super Rugby.

It wasn’t an exercise in stating the obvious — but a way of suggesting the Waratahs’ recent Super Rugby title counts for precisely nil in regard to Saturday night’s Bledisloe Cup clash.

It was also a way of hinting that the All Blacks, undefeated against the Wallabies in their last sevens tests, aren’t yet convinced that Australia’s tight five are equipped to handle themselves in the big-boy world of the Rugby Championship.

Rejuvenation is the buzz word clinging to Australian rugby but the pass-and-dash style of the Waratahs perhaps only papered over some cracks.

The Super Rugby champions’ scrum was barely holding together in the final — and that was on a night when there were only six. Their lineout wobbled too and — being acutely aware of the threat the Wallabies pose with ball in hand — restricting both quantity and quality of their opponents’ possession will form a key plank of the All Blacks’ game-plan.

“You could debate that it has maybe boosted a bit of confidence,” All Black assistant coach Ian Foster said of the Waratahs’ title. “But the Wallabies is a different environment and international rugby is different to Super Rugby so there are a couple of pretty significant variables that are different and the step to international rugby from Super Rugby we think is a significant step. We have got make sure it is on Saturday night.”

Brodie Retallick went further than Foster, the big lock being adamant the All Blacks not only had to raise the intensity in Sydney, but that they had to do it immediately. In the June series, the All Blacks were fortunate to win their first test — playing as badly as they did — and were slow into their best work in the second test.

If they are similarly sluggish on Saturday, they may not be able to preserve their unbeaten record in the Rugby Championship and also secure a world-record 18th straight test win.

The Wallabies, as everyone surely knows, are a team that runs best on confidence. If they can start well, score some early points and lift the crowd, they will become that much harder to subdue.

This point hardly needs to be made within the All Black camp. Most of their players have been around for long enough to know how the buildup week typically runs.

The Wallabies like to assure their public they are on the way up — on track towards a better performance and maybe even on the cusp of a new era of transtasman dominance.

There’s no shortage of hype, optimism and self-belief — then the game is played ...

The Wallabies haven’t had the Bledisloe since 2002. They have won only five of the last 30 encounters.

“That’s just Australia isn’t it,” said Foster in regard to the positive noises emanating from across the Tasman. “They are obviously preparing and want to build confidence in themselves and we are the same. I guess we just go about it in slightly different ways.

“I guess it’s testament to the fact this is a very big game and there is a lot of attention on both camps and both camps have got to answer the questions that the media put in front of them. So there have been things said. Overall they obviously feel they are in really good shape and it is our job to make sure we get in really good shape and that [on Saturday night] we prove our goal.”