New Zealand's continuing dominance of the Bledisloe Cup suggests it might be time to put the trophy up for grabs every time the trans-Tasman rivals meet.

If you go through the list of trophies, there is the Rugby World Cup, the Rugby Championship and the Bledisloe Cup; the Bledisloe is probably the third-most important trophy for New Zealanders, and that importance is down to Australia being our closest rivals. But with the All Blacks having held the Bledisloe Cup since 2002 it has become almost too hard to lose.

The way the Bledisloe Cup series is structured, the holders in a World Cup year have only to win one game to retain the trophy. In non-World Cup years, the team without the trophy has to win two of three games in which it is contested; and that's difficult, particularly for Australia.

So I think the time has arrived to have the Bledisloe Cup up for grabs every time the All Blacks play the Wallabies. There would be something special about that. It would be like having the Ranfurly Shield on the line, but in Test matches. In that way, it would be possible to win the Cup and lose it in the same season. It could add a little more spice to the series, and the last game of the annual series would decide who held the cup over the southern summer. There's nothing worse than a dead third game; with the cup already locked away in a cupboard, it becomes a bit of a fizzer - at least with regard to the silverware

Such a scheme would probably create even more interest in the Bledisloe Cup. Especially given that Australia have not defeated New Zealand since August 2011.

Having such a scheme in place would also increase the exposure of players to the importance of one-off games, the sort of experience you get when you reach the quarter-finals, or semi-finals, or indeed the final, of the Rugby World Cup; there is not a lot of opportunity to play in that different mindset.

Australia have not defeated New Zealand since 2011, when the Wallabies won the Tri-Nations title for the first time in 10 years © Getty Images

Enlarge

I think the Aussies are very dangerous this weekend. They are building quite nicely, and they are a side that hasn't had the sort of run that made Australia so strong in the late-1990s. But there seems to be something about them under Michael Cheika. He's got some old heads in there and things are falling into place for them. And that makes me nervous. That's the way every New Zealander should feel towards the Australians. They are that side against whom we tend to win more than we lose, but every now and then, in the important ones, they step up and beat us.

There's nothing more we like as New Zealanders than beating Australia, and I'm sure it's vice versa so far as Australians are concerned. There'll be a lot on this game and every All Blacks team knows that Australia refuse to lie down; it'll be a tough game.

The All Blacks celebrate another series victory against the Wallabies, in 2014 © Getty Images

Enlarge

From the All Blacks' point of view, I think they need to keep building on the momentum they had in South Africa. They need to put out a team that is going to feature at the World Cup.

I think this is time for Steve Hansen to start showing his hand on where his Test set-up sits. He might choose to rest a few players. And if he does, it will be only one or two; it won't be masses, because this is too important. You need to start building continuity, cohesion, partnerships and combinations, whatever you want to call them. The more the No.1 side play together, the better they are going to be. When you've got a No.1 side then you can tweak a player here or a player but you keep the whole core of it moving on.

For the Wallabies, it will be interesting to see if David Pocock and Michael Hooper start together for Australia. Should they do that, I think it shows that Cheika wants to play a faster, high-paced game, a more expansive game. Then to nullify that, the opposing side has to roll up their sleeves and take a straight channel down the middle to out-muscle them and deny them what they are trying to do.

Pocock and Hooper together means Australia will be trying to be half a second quicker to the breakdown, and wanting to play the game at speed; that requires the opposition to try to slow the game down. That's the beauty of rugby. How you want to play is not necessarily how your opposition are going to try to play it. Richie McCaw, Keiran Read and Jerome Kaino can play that other game where we don't throw the ball out wide; but at the same time, everyone from No.1 to No.8 in the All Blacks' pack can all get over the ball and do a good job.

Pre-game talk always comes back to the scrum when you talk about Australia. But they did well at stages of the second half against South Africa, after the Springboks had targeted their scrum. The Aussies are fine when they are up for scrummaging and are prepared for it. But danger lurks for them in the one moment when they lapse in concentration, and teams can and will exploit them; and that can build self-doubt within. It is the same for all teams: concentration is a must. Australia put themselves at peril if they don't go into every Test match knowing their opponents are going to target their scrum; so I expect them to be ready for that.

I think the game in Sydney is more about what else New Zealand can do and where else we can beat Australia. To a large extent, this game, for the All Blacks, is about the All Blacks; it's about what they can do.

As I've said in previous columns, the All Blacks need to concentrate on playing at the top of their game and leave other teams to try to combat them; the All Blacks should not be trying to combat their opponents.

We know where Australia's strengths lie, and, of course, the two sevens are players we know. We know Pocock. We know Hooper. There're no surprises or secrets there. So it is more about what New Zealand can do. And if they do go for two opensides, that selection will affect the Wallabies' lineout; and each of the New Zealand loose forwards are fine lineout exponents.

It will also be interesting to see what Australia do with their backline. Do they give Matt Giteau a shot at first five-eighth? What it does show is that they don't have a lot of options, and lack of depth remains an ongoing problem for Australia. That has always been the issue for Australia if they lose key players in key positions. First five-eighth highlights that if you look at New Zealand in comparison, as the All Blacks have four players - Dan Carter, Beauden Barrett, Lima Sopoaga and Colin Slade - lining up to play there.

Michael Cheika is probably pretty much certain of the team he will be taking to the World Cup, but the New Zealand selectors have a much tougher job to cull 10 guys to reach their required 31. Ten quality players, who would probably make most other countries' squads, are going to experience heartbreak. But that highlights the luxury and depth of talent that New Zealand enjoy.