And the skipper knows that this side will need to improve on their ‘smash and grab’ win in Wellington last year if they are to become the first Northern Hemisphere nation to win in Dunedin for nearly a century.

“Wellington last year was probably our poorest performance of the season. We will have to be a lot better in order to stay in the game. But I would anticipate, given the amount of rugby we've played, that we will be technically better,” said the Wasps No.8.

Meanwhile Graham Henry has been explaining how difficult it was not to include Andrew Mehrtens in his All Blacks side. “I think Andrew has had a bit of a fairytale last three or four weeks. He's been a very positive influence in what we have been doing,” said Henry.

The other big game in Australiasia sees the Wallabies face Scotland -- and the home side believe that a strong forward platform will be vital if they are to get the best possible start to their season against the tourists.
New forwards coach Andrew Blades has been putting his charges through their paces this week as they look send a tight scrummaging unit into battle against the Scots.
"Our preparation across the board has been really good ….I'm particularly happy with how the scrum has been going," said veteran prop Bill Young.

Meanwhile the Scots preparation has been less than ideal -hit by a handful of serious injuries that has forced Matt Williams to constantly re-shuffle his side - they were struck with another defeat on Tuesday, this time at the hands of NSW Waratahs.
“It was probably the most disappointing performance since I've been Scotland coach," said Williams after the game.

Jake White has named a Springbok side containing three new caps against Ireland as White looks to start his reign in the best possible fashion.
In total there are nine changes from the side which lost the World Cup quarter final to New Zealand, with Os du Randt and Gaffie du Toit both recalled alongside the debutants; Prop Eddie Andrews, winger Henno Mentz and scrum-half Fourie du Preez.
However White was forced into a change when De Wet Barry - one of the new coahes key decision makers - was ruled out by an ankle injury and replaced by Wayne Julies.
In contrast Ireland will field the side that completed the Triple Crown success over Scotland in March.
"This is as positive as it gets - everyone was fit and available from the last game, said coach Eddie O'Sullivan, as he looks to take his side to an historic first series win in South Africa.