Wallabies aiming to break NZ drought

Published: Sunday, 24. July, 2011 in category Southern Hemisphere

After swatting aside the challenge of a limp Springbok team in the opening Tri-Nations game, the Wallabies have now set their sights on recording their first victory on New Zealand soil in a decade.

Australia have lost their last 11 Test matches in New Zealand and have not won at Eden Park - the venue for the World Cup Final later this year - in 25 years, so if they are able to follow up their dominant performance against South Africa with a win in Auckland it will be a key psychological blow.

Coach Robbie Deans has whisked his team off to the Gold Coast for a ten-day training camp at which they will plot the demise of the worlds top-ranked team in two weeks time.

If the Wallabies do manage to beat the All Blacks at Eden Park it will be a crucial blow to the World Cup hosts confidence and will confirm Australia's status as serious contenders for the ultimate prize.

Deans told AAP: "It's great for us now. We get a week to regroup and really home in and focus on that game. It's a key game for us now. We haven't had a lot of success at Eden Park, but we've got a great opportunity to really target that game and make the most of it."

The Australian team managed to end a ten-match losing streak against the All Blacks the last time the sides met in Hong Kong last year, but Deans warned that despite the confidence gained from that performance his team will still have to be on top of their game to upset the All Blacks again.

"Within that belief there's just no point in presuming that you're going to be any further ahead in that game itself," he said.

James O'Connor was not yet born in 1986 when Australia recorded their last victory in Auckland, but he is embracing the challenge and cannot wait to square off with the All Blacks again.

"It's going to be an awesome: Eden Park, where the World Cup's going to be played, so looking forward to it," O'Connor said.

"I've only played there once. We were on the losing end that time, but it's a whole new year. The All Blacks are still setting the benchmarks in Test rugby so it's going to be a special game," he added.

The only Australian player from the match-day squad that demolished the Springboks with an injury concern is fullback Kurtley Beale who got banged up pretty badly in Sydney on Saturday.

Beale is currently nursing a twisted ankle, a black eye, four stitches in his head and an injured shoulder which is in a sling, but Deans is confident that he will recover in time to face New Zealand in a fortnight's time.

"Kurtley's a bit banged up. He probably came out of the game in the poorest shape of the group. I don't think the ankle's too bad. So that should recover. His shoulder should also recover, but he's just sore right now," said Deans.