Sport It’s all in the mind for All Blacks

Last week in Sydney was a test of the All Blacks’ physical prowess. This week, at Fortress Eden Park, it is surely all about the mindset.

If the All Blacks turn up with the attitude, the focus and the killer instinct, then surely the Bledisloe Cup gets locked away for a 16th straight year. And Australia’s curious introspection about their inability to measure up to their Kiwi rivals can begin all over again.

It will be the Wallabies lining up opposite the All Blacks on the green sward of their Auckland stronghold around 7.35pm tonight, but in so many ways Steve Hansen’s world champions are battling themselves, as much as anyone in a gold jumper.

They are the better team. What we saw last week lit that up like a Times Square neon sign. The record book further underlines the All Blacks’ superiority. The Wallabies have won just four of their last 33 tests against their trans-Tasman rivals, and none in New Zealand since 2001 (that’s 21 on the bounce). The world champions haven’t lost at Eden Park since 1994. The Aussies haven’t won there since 1986.

Let’s face it, the All Blacks have beaten the Wallabies every which way but loose over the last decade and a half, and you know that as soon as that squeeze goes on tonight, a familiar feeling of dread will wash over those visiting players.

‘‘Whether we like it or not, sub-consciously the scoreboard has an effect on us.’’ Steve Hansen

ALL BLACKS Nathan Harris, Karl Tu’inukuafe, Ofa Tuungafasi, Scott Barrett, Ardie Savea, TJ Perenara, Damian McKenzie, Anton Lienert-Brown.

Assistant referees: Television match official: TAB odds: New Zealand