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Blockbusting All Blacks centre Ma’a Nonu has warned New Zealand have a lot of room for improvement heading into Saturday’s Tri-Nations and Bledisloe Cup rugby clash with Australia.
Both Nonu and another senior member of the All Blacks backline, fullback Mils Muliaina, stressed on Monday their team had a lot to work on following successive losses to the Springboks in South Africa.
Nonu was hoping the anticipated return from injury of five-eighth Dan Carter would add extra fluency to their backline.
“We’ve got a lot to work on. I think there’s a lot of room for improvement and we haven’t really hit our straps,” Nonu told reporters in Sydney on Monday.
“Hopefully we’ll work together this weekend. With Carter coming in, hopefully we’ll get up a gear.”
The Australian media wasn’t allowed into the All Blacks training session on Monday.
Muliaina said the emphasis had been on skill aspects and making sure Carter was “up to speed” with what the team was doing.
With New Zealand losing both of their previous away games in South Africa, Muliaina said the All Blacks were working hardest on their execution ahead of the ANZ Stadium clash.
“Catching the ball and things like that and just getting a little bit more flow in our game,” Muliaina said.
“We haven’t quite got our own rhythm in a lot of things and we’ve got to get those sort of things right.
“We’ve got a lot of things that we need to work on, that we haven’t quite nailed and this week poses an opportunity to be able to do that.”
Used to constant scrutiny back home, Muliaina wasn’t surprised there was now increasing focus and pressure on the Wallabies’ New Zealand-born coach Robbie Deans following Australia’s defeats in their first two Tri-Nations fixtures.
“It’s just a part of professional sport really, Robbie is probably under a little bit of pressure, just like we are,” Muliaina said.
The veteran fullback talked up the Wallabies despite Australia’s disappointing performance in Auckland against the All Blacks.
“I thought they put a lot of pressure on us in Auckland, they certainly started well and they’ve got a good young team and certainly there’s a lot of talent there,” Muliaina said.
“Obviously they are a big threat and being at home they are going to be tough.
“They just had a few little mistakes against us, but they put us under real heat and we were fortunate to come back in that second half. It’s going to be a hard Test match.”
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.