(Reuters) – Australia are not thinking about their 35-year drought against the All Blacks at Eden Park where the teams face off in their Bledisloe Cup opener on Saturday, assistant coach Scott Wisemantel said on Friday.
Australia head into the match at New Zealand’s Auckland fortress – where they have not beaten them since 1986 – without winger Marika Koroibete who was one of three players ruled out for breaking a team curfew over a drinking session.
Asked if he thought New Zealand were at all vulnerable ahead of their latest clash, Wisemantel told reporters: “We don’t talk about it, to be honest. We’re just focused on ourselves.
“We’ve got 42 players here, we’ve got a big squad that we’re running so if we’re worried about other things and what the All Blacks are doing… we’re taking away the focus which is us.”
New Zealand have held the Bledisloe Cup, the annual trophy contested between the trans-Tasman nations, since 2003.
Wisemantel said the key to victory on Saturday would be to maintain their intensity.
“The game’s going to have momentum swings, they all do. It’s just who can hold their nerve,” Wisemantel said.
“Hopefully it’s close at the 60-minute mark and in the last 20 minutes, it’s who can keep applying the pressure.”
The second game of the three-match series will also be played at Eden Park on Aug. 14, followed by the final clash at Perth Stadium on Aug. 28.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)
