When Australia and New Zealand last met in Sydney, the All Blacks steamed into town intent on regaining the Bledisloe Cup before going on and conquering the world in Cardiff.

Unfortunately for the All Blacks, things didn't go quite to plan. They left Sydney battered and bruised without the Bledisloe and the first cracks had appeared in their quest for the World Cup.

For the Wallabies, life couldn't be sweeter. They thoroughly outplayed the All Blacks in the 28-7 victory and they served notice that they were ones to watch at the World Cup. History shows the Wallabies completed the job and brought "Bill" (the William Webb Ellis Trophy) back home to proudly sit beside the Bledisloe Cup. Of course, the price for winning the World Cup is that every other nation now lifts their game that little bit more against them.

More honours await Australia if they are successful on Saturday. Victory would be their 11th successive win, a Wallaby record. And there would be few better moments to stake a claim as the greatest Wallaby side of all time than before an expected world record rugby crowd at Stadium Australia.

Likewise, there would be few better moments for the All Blacks to crash a Wallaby party. Still smarting from their poor show in front of a world record Stadium Australia crowd, followed by an equally disappointing World Cup, the All Blacks are on a mission. And spanking the Aussies would make their path to redemption all the sweeter.

There's also the fact the All Blacks' record against their neighbours in recent years is pretty ordinary. After a 3-0 clean sweep to the Wallabies in 1998, the All Blacks won their first encounter in 1999 34-15 before stumbling in Sydney.

But be that as it may, the All Blacks are still the current Tri Nations champions and their form already this year suggests they are well placed to keep the trophy. The All Blacks' form this year has been explosive and dynamic - not surprisingly they are the bookies' favourites to win the Tri Nations. They have scored 219 points in their warm-ups against Tonga and Scotland with new coach Wayne Smith regularly rotating the entire squad. However, he has promised the 22 picked for the clash against Australia is the best All Black side in his opinion.

It's a fair indication that things are running pretty smoothly in the new regime when selectors can afford to drop 50 Test veteran Josh Kronfeld to the bench. Crusaders flanker Scott Robertson gets his chance after watching Kronfeld from the sidelines on so many occasions. The selection of Robertson suggests Smith wants his forwards to hit the Australian line hard from the word go, with the Crusaders' flanker noted for his go-forward, abrasive style.

In the only other changes from their last-start victory against Scotland, former captain Taine Randell comes off the bench to replace Rueben Thorne at blindside flanker, while Pita Alatini replaces Mark Robinson in the centres.

Robertson, who has started in just one of his seven Tests, joins Crusaders team-mate Ron Cribb and Randell in a back three charged with the job of shutting down Australia's elusive inside backs.

"We've got a horses for courses approach ... It's been a matter for all players to put their egos aside and accept it. We explain to them what we're doing and why we're doing it," Smith said.

"And once the decision's made, they have to accept it and go on supporting their comrades and Josh is no different. Scott Robertson, he's got his own talents, in Josh we've got someone who we know can come on and do the job as well.

"It's the best 22 to play Australia, that's not to say it's the team we'd select to play South Africa."

The Wallabies also go into the game undefeated after two victories against Argentina and last Saturday's 44-23 win against South Africa in the inaugural Mandela Challenge in Melbourne.

However, the world champions haven't been quite as impressive as the All Blacks. They were given a serious wake-up call by Argentina in Canberra, and were trailing 23-17 at half-time to a spirited South Africa before storming home with 27 unanswered points in the second half.

Injuries to World Cup heroes Matt Burke, Tim Horan, Ben Tune and Owen Finegan, have forced coach Rod Macqueen into changes, but he is fortunate to have plenty of depth to choose from.

He has made just one change to the run-on side from the Mandela Challenge for with Waratahs captain Jason Little replacing the Brumbies' Rod Kafer at inside-centre. Versatile Brumbies back Andrew Walker comes onto the bench for Queensland's Elton Flatley. Walker, who played rugby league for Australia in 1996, returned to rugby at the start of this year. Macqueen also resisted the urge to return Reds No.8 Toutai Kefu to the run-on side after making a strong impact off the bench against South Africa following a long lay-off with a fractured leg.

"We decided to go with Jason Little because we thought he played particularly well in the second half against South Africa," Macqueen said. "We don't want to take anything away from Rod Kafer because he's a very good player but perhaps this week Jason offers us a few more options. Jason is a little bit faster than Kafer.

"We also thought Kefu played very well when he came back on but we also thought Jim Williams had a very good game. His workrate was high and we don't necessarily want to rush Kefu into the side. He's only got one and a half games under his belt.

"Kefu's a very good impact player and we've used him that way before but we're certainly not going to do that all the way through the season."