It will take far more than anger to end a horrible 11-year drought on New Zealand soil but Wallaby blood is boiling heading into Saturday night’s Bledisloe test of character.

Stalwart utility back Adam Ashley-Cooper spoke for his team when he said he was sick of crossing the Tasman and coming up well short.

Australia haven’t beaten the All Blacks on their home turf since 2002 in Dunedin, meaning not one of their 23-man squad has enjoyed a Bledisloe victory in New Zealand.

Ashley-Cooper labelled the Wallabies defensive performance – leaking 47 points in the 18-point loss in Sydney – as unacceptable, and the onus was on them to lift their urgency and intensity.

Coach Ewen McKenzie said his players would use the pain of the opening Bledisloe defeat to uncork a spirited fightback.

“I’m angry and I know the players are in the same space,” he said.

“You have to take the emotion out of that performance and do something bout it the next week.

“We have a great opportunity to play against the most consistent team in the world and that’s how you benchmark yourself.”

McKenzie has stuck by five-eighth Matt Toomua’s well-rounded skill set to deliver his plans, again leaving Quade Cooper on the bench, but wants to see the Brumbies rookie strike a better attacking balance.

The coach admitted Australia, expected to be more direct and physical, would kick more after he felt they ran the ball too much to their own detriment at ANZ Stadium.

“It was too skewed,” he said.

“We made 80-something tackles and they made 150, so we did a lot of running with the ball. They kicked a lot of high balls.

“There’s a game balance and they did it a lot better than we did.

“We’ll get a lot better balance this time.”

For all the disappointment of a first-up 47-29 loss, McKenzie said there was also plenty to like in Sydney and felt the gap between the sides was a lot closer than the scoreline suggested.

“We competed well and generated set-piece pressure,” he said.

“We made line breaks on first phase, which we haven’t done for a long time.

“We were 25-22 in the 51st minute.”