Beauden Barrett rated rival no.15 Kurtley Beale as a bigger threat than Israel Folau as the All Blacks admitted they were caught out by the Wallabies’ shock pick of James O’Connor at centre.
Compared to last year’s opening Bledisloe Cup clash in Sydney, the Kiwis will come up against a new-look Wallabies backline in Perth; with only Marika Koroibete wearing the same jersey.
Nic White, Christian Lealiifano, Samu Kerevi and O’Connor have all been included, and last year’s midfielders Kurtley Beale and Reece Hodge have moved to fullback and wing respectively.
Many Folau fans believe Australia aren’t an attacking threat without the sacked Wallaby but Barrett doesn’t share their view.
"We are all aware of Israel Folau’s capabilities and the strength that he has from a physical point of view,” Barrett said.
"Kurtley is a very exciting player, and he is so unpredictable I think they certainly don’t lose anything by having Kurtley there. If anything, it’s probably more threatening.”
The All Blacks know Beale well but they admitted they’ll be scrambling for game tape to assess O’Connor after the 29-year-old prodigal son was named for his first Test start in six years.
New Zealand coaches have over the years prided themselves on predicting who their rivals will field in Test matches, and plan their strategies accordingly.
But the selection of O’Connor ahead of Tevita Kuridrani in the Wallabies no.13 was, admitted coach Steve Hansen, from the far reaches of left-field.
“That was a bit of a surprise - one from the Aussies there,” Hansen said.
"It’s going to be interesting isn’t it. Because he is a jack-in-the-box. He will need to be looked after and he is playing outside a big ball carrier (Kerevi) and I am sure he will be looking to run off him. He will be interesting."
O’Connor has been playing midfield for Sale in the English premiership, but mostly at 12.
Whether he can adjust to playing no.13 at Test level remains to be seen but in explaining his selection, Wallabies coach Michael Cheika said that element of the unknown was a potential advantage for Australia.
"I think James will bring something a little bit different that we haven’t seen, so definitely our opponents won’t have seen it either,” Cheika said.
All Blacks centre Anton Lienert-Brown said he was an admirer of O’Connor in his earlier Wallabies days, prior to heading overseas due to off-field issues.
"I guess the last time I saw James play I was at high school,” Lienert-Brown said.
"So yeah, we will definitely have to do a bit more homework but what I do know is that he is a great player and he has done great things in the Aussie jersey.
"We are going to have to look at some footage and think about possible situations he could do differently so we’ll go away and do that, and look forward to that challenge.”
If the All Blacks were sniffing an opportunity in exploiting O’Connor in the defensively difficult role of no.13, they weren’t letting on.
New Zealand tend to be very good of exploiting new defensive combinations, as seen in their 54-34 win in Sydney in 2017.
Barrett, who scored four tries against Australia last year in Auckland, claimed most of their attacking plans were already laid down when asked if O’Connor would be targeted.
"Not so much. Like Steve touched on earlier, it was a surprise to see that midfield combination,” Barrett said.
"But yeah most of our preparation is almost done. Who knows what their midfield combination will present on Saturday? We have to see very phase or every opportunity to attack them. It’s going to be exciting.”
Cheika said he had full faith in O’Connor to defend in the no.13 channel and Hansen pointed to that when asked the same question.
"They wouldn’t be putting him there if they didn’t think he could,” Hansen said.
"And they have Hodgey on the wing so they may turn around defensively and put Hodge to centre. They have plenty of different options but they wouldn’t put him there if he couldn’t defend."
Hansen said the Wallabies woudn't be taken lightly in Perth.
"I have always thought they are a very good rugby side," he said.
"They have a lot of talent and not neccesairly do they get the credit for what they do, or how they play.
"They play us a lot and if you look at our last ten years, they’ve been the one team who has been able to beat us or draw with us.
"Sometimes yes, we have beaten them by quite a margin but they’re always tough games."
The fact the opening Bledisloe Cup game is not first-up this year makes for a different encounter, Hansen said.
The Wallabies take on New Zealand at Optus Stadium, Perth, on Saturday August 10, kicking off at 5;45pm local, 7;45pm AEST, with the Wallaroos-Black Ferns kicking off at 3pm local, 5pm AEST. The Wallabies are LIVE on Network Ten, FOX SPORTS, Kayo Sports and RUGBY.com.au RADIO while the Wallaroos will be shown on FOX SPORTS, Kayo Sports and via RUGBY.com.au RADIO.
