SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia and New Zealand have no chance of winning the Rugby Championship after losing three of four matches so far this season but the coveted Bledisloe Cup ensures that Saturday's test will be anything but a dead rubber.
The Wallabies have not held the symbol of trans-Tasman Sea rugby supremacy since 2002 and look unlikely to make the breakthrough this year by beating the All Blacks in Sydney on Saturday and again in Wellington next week.
The record nine-try, 67-27 hammering they suffered at the hands of Argentina two weeks ago sent Australian rugby spiralling into new depths of misery and back-to-back tests against the All Blacks is probably not what they needed next.
New Zealand have lost only one of their last 12 tests against Australia and have won their last four against the Wallabies in Sydney by significant margins.
In transition under new coach Scott Robertson, they might have had a mediocre campaign so far in the tournament they have won 20 times but that will not diminish their desire to get one over on their neighbours.
World Cup finalists last year, the All Blacks were not too far off the pace in their two losses to the world champion Springboks in South Africa and Robertson's focus ahead of Saturday's clash was just about tightening up a few things.
"We want to finish well. We're creating so much and created a lot of opportunities in South Africa that we didn't execute," Robertson said on Thursday after naming his team.
"So execution is on top of our mind, but we just want a really good energy over here, make sure we build off what we've done before but be a bit more ruthless."
The task for Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt looks a lot tougher, even if his team might be motivated to make popular prop James Slipper a winner in his 140th test as he becomes Australia's most capped player.
Schmidt knows the All Blacks well having joined Ian Foster's coaching staff for last year's World Cup campaign, and he spoke at length about the quality of their players after naming his Wallabies side on Thursday.
"I know their strengths and I know their weaknesses, they probably have a lot less of those than they do strengths," the New Zealander said.
"They were a great group. But I really enjoy these guys I'm working with now."
Schmidt, in stark contrast to his predecessor Eddie Jones, has shied away from making any promises or predictions since he took over at the start of the season, preferring to focus on the process of rebuilding the young team.
"The Bledisloe is a massive trophy. It's something that I know the All Blacks treasure and the Wallabies would like to treasure," he said on Thursday.
"It would be great if they could at least get a hand on it and keep it alive to Wellington.
"But I think what we've been working on is just trying to do elements of the game better, rather than talking about anything that's outcome focused."
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Miral Fahmy)
