Aussies must have the jitters

By CHRIS LAIDLAW

No matter what kind of face they may put on it, the Australians have the jitters.

They know only too well that they didn't win the first round of the Bledisloe Cup at Dunedin by much of a margin, and the margin was created as much by All Black tactical ineptitude as anything else.

Tonight we are unlikely to see a repeat of that ineptitude, not simply because we have Andrew Mehrtens back, but because the All Black forwards are bound to provide more breathing space for the playmakers than they did last time.

It is marvellous what a single, solid victory can do for a team's sense of self-assurance.

The win over South Africa was a beauty. It was achieved, for the first time in several years, through a full 80-minute onslaught.

There was hardly a moment in the match when the All Blacks were in danger of having the initiative taken away from them, and this was due to the quality of concentration as well as effort.

It showed anyone who had begun to doubt their capacity for sustained concentration that this All Black team can do it, too, when they have to.

There were many things to applaud last Saturday, but the biggest and the most important, in view of the match-up tonight, was the coolness under fire.

Make no mistake, the Springboks played pretty well up to their limit and they threw as much as they were capable of at New Zealand, but to no avail.

Some of the defence was the best we have seen for years, especially from the usual heartstopper, Jonah Lomu.

Nor did the All Blacks begin to wilt towards the end, something they have done far too often recently, particularly against a hard-minded Wallaby outfit intent on wearing them down psychologically.

All this suggests that the All Blacks have a real chance of winning in Sydney, something few of us would have ventured to suggest a fortnight ago.

But it sure isn't going to be easy.

Troy Flavell will need the game of his career if he is to prevent the master of blindside play, Owen Finegan, getting across the gain-line.

This is going to require disruption of the Gregan-Finegan machinery, and every All Black forward will have a part in that at some stage or another.

The All Blacks, around the fringes, must do to the Wallabies what they do to everybody so well: slowing down the delivery and just getting an arm, a leg or a torso in the way, even if that is only momentarily.

Gregan is known to have palpitations whenever he plays Byron Kelleher - and Kelleher will be relishing the opportunity that he has finally been given for a huge showdown with the world No 1 halfback.

I have a feeling that he might just about be ready to challenge that pecking order, but he has to be careful.

Over-exuberance has sunk him in the past and his senior partner, Mehrtens, will need to keep his halfback's lid on.

Mehrtens, if he gets service of the speed, accuracy and length that Kelleher dished out last week, will have no excuse not to produce a repeat performance.

He, above all others, will be the key to keeping the Australians on the back foot and he knows that tonight, his career reputation is probably on the line.

If the All Blacks do win, no matter what the margin, it will be an achievement of monumental proportions and it may just tip this marvellous Wallaby team over the top. And won't that be welcome.