New Zealand captain Tana Umaga fears an Australian backlash over the criticism aimed at George Gregan when the sides meet in tomorrow's deciding Tri-Nations match at Eden Park in Auckland.
The All Blacks are heavily favoured to beat an Australian side ravaged by injuries and poor form and regain the title they lost to South Africa last year.
However, with the Wallabies captain Gregan under enormous pressure from a growing band of critics calling for him to be sacked, Umaga has sounded a word of caution. He fears the attacks on Gregan would only help motivate the Australians.
"It really is a perfect situation for Australia," Umaga said. "When everyone's giving you grief and your back's against the wall, you become insular and you rally the troops around you. No one backs him (Gregan) this week and that's a very dangerous thing for us. We're the only ones who give him any credit, really."
New Zealand need to win the match to secure the Tri-Nations for the sixth time in 10 years while South Africa will retain the title if Australia pull off an upset.
The Australians have lost each of their three previous Tri-Nations matches this season as well as the Nelson Mandela challenge to the Springboks, leaving them in danger of becoming the first Wallabies team in more than three decades to lose five consecutive matches.
Playing the world's number one team is a daunting enough prospect, but matters are made even worse for an Australian team so ravaged by injuries that 17 players were unavailable for selection.
Coach Eddie Jones was forced to pick a radical team that included five personnel and five positional changes to the side beaten by South Africa a fortnight ago.
He included three uncapped players in his 22-man squad, reserve lock Alex Kanaar along with replacement backs Lachlan MacKay and Lloyd Johansson, but his biggest gamble is at outhalf.
With Stephen Larkham, Matt Giteau and Elton Flatley all sidelined, Jones turned to Mat Rogers even though the former rugby league international has never played in the position before. Rogers said he had no idea how he would adapt to his new position but was determined to play a running game regardless of the consequences.
"We don't have much to lose but they have everything to play for," Rogers said. "So we can throw a little bit of caution to the wind and just go out there and play footy and hopefully get the job done."
The All Blacks made a great start to the season with a clean sweep in their three-match series against the Lions before coming unstuck against the Springboks in Cape Town. They squandered a string of opportunities to crash to a six-point loss but quickly rebounded to beat the Wallabies 30-13 in Sydney before last weekend's win over the South Africans in Dunedin put them back in control of their own destiny.
Coach Graham Henry has made two forced changes to the side who beat South Africa, but said he did not want to take any risks against the Wallabies.
Waikato flanker Sione Lauaki replaces Jerry Collins at blindside after the latter was suspended for two weeks for punching while Auckland winger Doug Howlett replaces Rico Gear, who has a minor knee complaint.
"Our selection reflects that we respect Australian rugby and the Australian team and we all know it will be a hard game at the weekend," Henry said.
STATISTICS
Played 146: All Blacks won 98. Australia won 43. Five draws.
Biggest wins: New Zealand 43-6 in 1996. Australia 28-7 in 1999. Recent results: 2000, Sydney: New Zealand won 39-35. 2000, Wellington: Australia won 24-23. 2001, Dunedin: Australia won 23-15. 2001, Sydney: Australia won 29-26. 2002, Christchurch: New Zealand won 12-6. 2002, Sydney: Australia won 16-14. 2003, Sydney: New Zealand won 50-21. 2003, Auckland: New Zealand won 21-17. 2003, Sydney (World Cup): Australia won 22-10. 2004, Wellington: New Zealand won 16-7. 2004, Sydney: Australia won 23-18. 2005, Sydney: New Zealand won 30-13. Last match: August 13th, 2005: Australia 13 New Zealand 30 (half-time 13-10).
NEW ZEALAND: Muliana; Howlett, Umaga, Mauger, Rokocoko; MacDonald, Weepu; Woodcock, Mealamu, Hayman, Hack, Williams, Lauaki, McCaw, So'oialo.
AUSTRALIA: Mitchell; Gerrard, Rathbone, Turinui, Tuqiri; Rogers, Gregan; Young, Cannon, Baxter, Chisholm, Sharpe, Alsom, Waugh, Smith.
