Patrick McKendry: Time for Wallabies to show they have stomach for fight

Australian winger Henry Speight after the Bledisloe Cup test defeat. Photo / Brett Phibbs

As the All Blacks sharpen their attacking edge in the search for an 80-minute performance in Dunedin, the Wallabies must focus on trying not to lose the test in the first half after the shambles in Sydney.

Their response will be interesting because they must show they have the stomach for the fight in Bledisloe 2 - they didn't in the first 40 minutes at ANZ Stadium last week - while not allowing their aggression to boil over into ill-discipline, something which marred the return fixture last year in Wellington.

It's here too that coach Michael Cheika must walk a fine line. He misplaced the plot during that test at Wespac Stadium, won 29-9 by the All Blacks, when he was filmed shouting obscenities at the field of play after a decision by referee Romain Poite, and lost it completely afterwards when having a crack at Nigel Owens when the Welsh official wasn't even involved in the series.

Cheika also accused Steve Hansen of meeting Poite in the team hotel before the test, a meeting which didn't happen (Hansen did meet Jaco Peyper after a friendly request by the South African official).

The Wallabies, keen to put the All Blacks off their game by any means possible, indulged in some silly stuff. Halfback Nick Phipps threw Malakai Fekitoa's boot in the crowd at one point, and several of the visiting players had plenty to say, not that they were really in a position to say much.

The point is, physicality and aggression will be key for the Wallabies on Saturday but it must be channeled in the right direction. They can't allow the All Blacks to roll over the top of them in the contact areas like they did in Sydney because that allows the home side quick ball and Hansen's men have shown time and again that they are lethal with that.

Defensively the Wallabies have to be better connected, but their intent in the tackle must be better too. Dominant tackles slow the opposition's ball. Keep making those and they might be able to stay in the game. Do that, and finish like they did in Sydney, and it might just be interesting.

"Physically, the breakdown will be something they will want to tidy up so we have to make sure we're pretty accurate in that area," All Blacks fullback Ben Smith said yesterday. "Both teams would have had a good look at each other... I think you'll see an Aussie team that's pretty fired up this week."

Asked if he expected a response from the Wallabies similar to the one in Wellington last year, Smith said: "Any team that probably didn't play as well as they would have liked will come out the next week and be really physical and aggressive."

Should the pair be selected for their respective teams this week, the clash between Wallabies first-five Bernard Foley and All Blacks second-five Sonny Bill Williams will be one to watch.

For whatever reason, the pair had a running verbal battle last Saturday, and while Foley won a small battle when watching as his side ran in four unanswered tries in the second half, Williams and the All Blacks won the war 54-34.

Australian rugby is at a low ebb. For the sake of the game there, it's time for the Wallabies to front with their actions now.