The two biggest questions around the All Blacks as they prepare to play the Wallabies in Melbourne on Saturday is whether they can sustain their new heights of physicality reached against the Springboks and which pair of locks will help them start their quest.
Sam Whitelock, back from an Achilles injury, will likely play a part at the Melbourne Cricket Ground after the selectors erred on the side of caution and opted not to play him for the stunning 35-20 victory over South Africa at Mt Smart Stadium, but it remains to be seen whether he will start the Test, his 144th.
Scott Barrett is in career best form, with the ever consistent Brodie Retallick similarly abrasive against the world champions during a Test in which the pack combined set piece accuracy with hard and straight running to leave the Boks battered mentally and physically before the first half was up.
A bench role for Whitelock on his return would surprise, however, given his quality and experience and Barrett’s recent workload.
It may be that Barrett gets that job as the All Blacks prepare for a different challenge against a Wallaby pack welcoming back giant lock Will Skelton in front of a predicted crowd of more than 80,000 but either way, the All Blacks are in a good place depth-wise.
“We’ve genuinely got competition for spots right across the park and that’s good,” forwards coach Jason Ryan said from the team’s Auckland hotel today.
“I guess what’s not being seen is how hard the guys are working and how well they’re training and competing during the week which effectively is setting us up for some good performances.
“We just pick the best team and we’re honest with the boys early on. We’ve got three world-class locks - world-leading locks, to be honest. And we’ve got a couple of younger fellas who are doing a pretty good job as well.
“We’re brave in selections and there’s no guarantees for anyone and that’s the way the All Blacks should be.”
Asked about his “hunger” to play in Melbourne, Whitelock said: “The team has played really well the last two games. I had the privilege of watching in Argentina and running water at Mt Smart. The hunger is always there.”
A win on Saturday would complete a clean sweep in the Rugby Championship and allow the All Blacks to retain the Bledisloe Cup for yet another year ahead of the return match against Australia in Dunedin a week later. Should the All Blacks win on Saturday, they may opt to change things up a little more in the deep south.
After a comprehensive 41-12 victory over Argentina in Mendoza, the All Blacks went to a new level against the Boks in terms of their momentum-building physicality and the onus will be on them to sustain that against a Wallabies team that has traditionally not been as strong up front.
Ryan, who has brought a new edge to the pack since his arrival with the team in near disarray last year, called the most recent performance a “step forward”, but remained characteristically level-headed.
“We still gave away a couple of soft scrum penalties and a soft maul try as well,” he said. “We’ll address that this week. We’re not hiding from it - we’ll tidy it up.
“We were up for last week and we have to be up for this week… we need to prepare with the utmost respect and I know the boys will because we talked about it this morning and set a mark in the ground.”
Wing Leicester Fainga’anuku remains unavailable due to a calf problem, with fellow wing Emoni Narawa out with a back injury.
Last year’s corresponding fixture in Melbourne featured a memorable finish and a 39-37 victory for the All Blacks after the Wallabies’ time-wasting tactics backfired badly.
Asked whether that result brought home the fine margins between the sides, Ryan said: “Yeah it does and we respect them for that. One thing we know about the Australians and their mindset is they’ll keep trying. They aren’t going to go away but we won’t either and we look forward to that contest.
“They’ll be pretty courageous and throw the ball around and it will be a typical Bledisloe Cup encounter.”
The All Blacks depart Auckland for Melbourne after naming their team on Thursday.
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