All Blacks coach Steve Hansen dismisses talk of a one-on-one rivalry with Robbie Deans yet isn’t afraid to fire a volley of psychological shots at his Wallabies counterpart.

Hansen didn’t miss his target when asked an innocent question about the number of changes to the Australian team that the All Blacks face on Saturday, from the last time the teams met.

The Wallabies starting XV for the Bledisloe Cup Test in Sydney features only six players who began the World Cup semi-final in Auckland last October, won 20-6 by the All Blacks. Just two forwards are among them.

Hansen’s interpretation at a media conference on Thursday was cutting.

“Initially you would think that he (Deans) has admitted to himself that he got his selections wrong in the semi-final,” he said.

“Or he wants to play a different game and he doesn’t have the confidence in those same guys to do that.”

The All Blacks team this week features eight starting players who began the World Cup semi.

Last week, Hansen asked for no repeat of the media fixation that marked the rivalry between predecessor Sir Graham Henry and Deans between the 2007 and 2011 World Cups.

Hansen and Deans are former co-coaches with Canterbury and the Crusaders and it has been widely reported that the pair fell out before Hansen left to join Henry at Wales in 2001.

There was more aggression from Hansen when another journalist asked about some bold talk from the Australian camp regarding the looming forward battle.

“It’s probably the difference between Australia and us – we don’t talk ourselves up much,” Hansen said.

“Actions speak louder than words so we’ll see who does the talking when the time comes.”