Rupert Guinness | August 24, 2009


After retaining the Bledisloe Cup in a heart-stopping game decided by one point, the All Blacks want one more thing from the Wallabies.
It is a favour of sorts - to help them win the Tri Nations by beating the Springboks in their Tests in Perth on Saturday and then in Brisbane.
The Wallabies will aim to break their winless record for their own reasons. But All Blacks coach Graham Henry did not shy from saying what the consequences were should they do so and thus limit the points advantage that the South Africans enjoy on the Tri Nations ladder.
''We need the Aussies to get up in the next two Tests, eh? And I think they are good enough to do the job and just need to have rub of the green, I suppose. Hopefully they can do that and that gives us a sniff,'' Henry said after his side's come-from-behind win on Saturday.
Henry even suggested the tightness of Saturday's Test was what the All Blacks needed going into their break before their final Tests against the Springboks in Hamilton on September 12 and the Wallabies at Wellington on September 19.
''Australia is a very good side,'' Henry said. ''They stretched us a lot. It's pleasing the guys had the ability to handle that and win the game at the finish. I think it will do us a lot of good, quite frankly.''
All Blacks captain Richie McCaw did not gloat over his side's victory, which retained the Bledisloe Cup for the All Blacks for another year. He has experienced too many close encounters against Australian sides to ever underestimate the Wallabies - the past two for instance.
''It was a pretty good team we played against,'' McCaw said. ''I haven't come across a Wallabies team that hasn't been like that, to be honest.
''They are always a team that wants to play to the ball and, give them a bit of space, they are pretty hard to control. [Saturday night] was no different.''
McCaw had also not forgotten how close his side came to suffering a third successive loss after two defeats by the Springboks in South Africa.
''They had to really dig deep,'' he said. ''When you come out on the right side of those, it shows what it meant to the guys to be out there.
''To hang in there and get the points, we knew it might take 80 minutes. That shows what it means to put on the [All Blacks] jersey.''
The All Blacks are ready to give the Tri Nations a shake, especially with five-eighth Daniel Carter showing against the Wallabies that he can be relied on to be at his best after six months out with a ruptured Achilles tendon.
All Blacks assistant coach Wayne Smith said Carter ''played well, amazingly, really''.
The All Blacks's concerns were the injuries of centres Luke McAlister (fractured cheek bone) and Conrad Smith (torn hamstring).

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