Victorious Wallabies looking to next week

They knocked the All Blacks over in Sydney, but the Wallabies know a different beast will be waiting for them at Eden Park next weekend in the Bledisloe Cup decider.

The Wallabies have just four wins from their past 25 Tests at the famous ground in Auckland, having not won there since 1986.

Australian coach Michael Cheika was measured after his side’s 27-19 win in the Rugby Championship decider at ANZ Stadium on Saturday night and very much looking ahead to next week as the Wallabies look to claim the Bledisloe for the first time since 2002.

“It’s probably the biggest challenge in world rugby going to Eden Park, and we know that,” Cheika said.

The match next Saturday will be the first time the Wallabies have played a Bledisloe Cup decider since 2008, with the victory in Sydney their first over the All Blacks in 11 Tests and first since 2011.

“The reality is we’ve only won one game against New Zealand in a long time,” he said.

“It doesn’t stand for nothing it’s stands for a little bit.

“Consistency is key and we’ve got to go out and prepare each day to be competitive with the number one team in the world on their own patch.”

Cheika’s call to start a couple of openside flankers David Pocock (No.8) and man of the match Michael Hooper proved successful, and while the coach said they combined well together, he admitted there was work to do.

“Not bad,” said Cheika when asked about how the pair went.

“I thought they did a lot of work. They struggled in a couple of set-pieces, a couple of lineouts which we can’t really afford to do … so we’ll have to have a look at how that went down.”

Cheika admitted it was important for his team to enjoy the win.

“I don’t want to be a sad sack … you take a moment congratulate your players and sing the national anthem with pride and loud and you sit down with your mates afterwards in the dressing room like old fashion times and talk about the game and what happened and enjoy that,” he said.

“Then you’ll get on the bus and back to the hotel and start thinking about what am I doing now to get ready for next week.

“That’s what I’m going to do as a coach.”

All Blacks coach Steve Hansen admitted his team must lift at Eden Park.

“What we’re going to get next week is another pressure cooker game and an ideal build up for the Rugby World Cup and we are going to have to improve a heck of a lot if we are going to keep the Bledisloe Cup and I’m looking forward to that,” Hansen said.

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