Kurtley Beale’s selection at first five-eighth for the Wallabies may have dumbfounded All Blacks coach Steve Hansen, but one of Beale’s key opponents expects a tough challenge.

Ma’a Nonu’s direct opponent may be Matt Toomua, but it would be a surprise if the All Blacks second five-eighth doesn’t run a few times on the inside of Toomua at the more lightly framed Beale.

But Nonu says it won’t be easy making ground through the 10 and 12 channels.

“They talk about Beale not being a great defensive player but I think he’s worked hard in the last two years, and he’s an attacking weapon. We’ve seen him this year playing probably the best Super 15 he’s ever played,” he said.

“We know Toomua’s relatively a first-five playing second-five, but defensively he’s pretty good.”

Both teams go into the game after winning all three of their June internationals, though the All Blacks were severely tested in their first two games against England and Nonu says they have learned from that.

“A lot of us took it for granted coming off Super Rugby, thinking it could just roll over and we could perform as All Blacks,” he said.

“Preparation’s got to be key in terms of hitting the line at eight o’clock in Sydney. We want our skills to be crisp, we want our physicality to be dominant, we want our minds to be ready for the game.”

Nonu will be taking on the Wallabies for the 22nd time but he says every Test brings a new challenge.

“People may see it as just playing Australia again but for players it’s not. They’re always improving, we’re always improving. We’ve just got to win more moments than them.”