The Wallabies are set to face their toughest challenge on Saturday night meeting an imposing All Blacks outfit in Melbourne..

Australia v New Zealand

Melbourne

Saturday 8pm AEST

The Wallabies are set to face their toughest challenge on Saturday night meeting an imposing All Blacks outfit in Melbourne.

Granted, the Wallabies started their 2010 Tri-Nations campaign in empathic fashion, smashing the Springboks 30 to 13 at Suncorp Stadium last weekend. However, the All Blacks also comprehensively outplayed the South Africans, easily accounting for them in the opening two Tests of the current series.

The recent history between the cross Tasman rivals has all been one way traffic, with the All Blacks having won the last seven meetings between the two. In fact, Australia and the Bledisloe Cup are virtually strangers, with the Wallabies not having held the coveted trophy since 2002.

The biggest concern for coach Robbie Deans heading into the match is the loss of Quade Cooper, who has been in fine form. Rather than move Matt Giteau back to fly-half it is expected that Berrick Barnes will slot straight into Cooper’s spot.

This Test could be the defining moment of Barnes’ international career. After debuting at age 21 in the 2007 World Cup, Barnes appeared to have the world at his feet with some breathtaking performances, but has appeared to have lost his way in recent times. He now gets his chance to resurrect his career.

The Wallabies backs were at their best against the Springboks and plenty of credit must go to Giteau who had a sensational game and is starting to look at home at inside centre. Scrum half Will Genia also constantly threatened and used the space around him well.

I thought James O’Conner had a good game considering he was stationed in his relatively unfamiliar position on the wing, further cementing his position in the team. Most notably was his defensive work, laying several solid tackles.

The Wallabies backs however face a tough challenge coming up against the creative likes of Dan Carter, Ma'a Nonu, Conrad Smith, Cory Jane and Mils Muliaina, all of whom are in sensational form.

Interestingly both sides trusted their backs against the Springboks by tending to keep the ball in hand rather than opting for quick territory by kicking it. If both sides remain true to style then we are set for a very entertaining free running game. 

Significantly, the return of Benn Robinson from injury last week had a huge impact on bolstering the Wallabies forwards, who with locks Dean Mumm and Nathan Sharpe helped form a more experienced scrum, not looking as fragile as they have been on occasions.

More importantly the back row combination of Richard Brown, David Pocock and Rocky Elsom is starting to combine well, and these players were particularly good against the Springboks at the breakdown.

However, they face the feared All Black power forwards headed by Tony Woodcock, Keven Mealamu, Owen Franks and Brad Thorn; while Richie McCaw, Jerome Kaino, Kieran Read form an awesome combination in the back row.

I fear for the Wallabies that the forwards will prove to be the game breaker. Quite simply the All Blacks forwards are too powerful for their Wallabies counterparts. The brutal features of the game, the collisions, scrums and breakdown are the aspects that should see the New Zealand team triumph yet again.

Back the All Blacks to win by 1 to 12 points.