Read thoughts of Australia head coach Les Kiss and All Blacks’ Dave Rennie ahead of sides meeting in Sydney in return Test and after last week’s heavy New Zealand win; Watch All Blacks face Australia in Sydney on Saturday October 17 (6am) live on Sky Sports Main Event
Last Updated: 15/10/26 6:26am
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Australia head coach Les Kiss has vowed the Wallabies will “return fire” against the All Blacks in Saturday’s return Bledisloe Cup Test in Sydney, live on Sky Sports.
Last week, Australia’s six-Test unbeaten run came to a shuddering halt when New Zealand ensured they will retain the Bledisloe Cup for a 24th year after powering to a 50-19 victory over the Wallabies at Eden Park.
A competitive first half, perhaps even edged by Australia, saw the All Blacks three points ahead at the break as the sides traded two tries each.
But the second half proved altogether different, as the All Blacks added five further tries in a display of clear dominance.
“It’s like anything. You get a knockback, you find out more about yourself and that’s what we’ll do. We’ll work hard on what we have to do,” said Kiss.
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“Belief is created and sustained by not just wins and losses, they’re created by other things. These boys have a strong culture, a strong belief in themselves and a confidence about what they can do.
“But the lessons are there: if you can’t get your strengths going and their strengths grow, it makes it a difficult game.
“We’ll go back and we’ll work on what we have to and try and turn the dial in the right areas that can go to Sydney and return fire.”
Australia face some injury issues and will be without key centre Len Ikitau, who left Saturday’s game in the first half with a head knock, while Hunter Paisami has been suspended.
Jordan Petaia is also unavailable due to an ankle injury, with Corey Toole and Kadin Pritchard coming in as replacements.
“Over the last five Tests, we didn’t lose the run of ourselves; the boys always said we’ve got work to do. It doesn’t change now,” Kiss said.
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“We’ll have a good look at that game, like we have, get into the nuts and bolts of what we need to get right. How do we get our strengths into the game? How do we just nullify their strengths, and that’s what we look at.
“We need to make sure we do the work that gets that done. It’ll be making sure we get the things that we feel that can make a difference, that’s for sure.
“Once they got their momentum, it was hard to wrestle back.”
Rennie: Quality performance from All Blacks had been coming
For the All Blacks, four players have been ruled out of Saturday’s Test in Sydney.
New Zealand will be without hooker Asafo Aumua and back-row Anton Segner after both failed their second head-injury assessments (HIAs).
Flanker Ethan Blackadder has picked up a calf injury, and wing Leroy Carter has been ruled out due to a high ankle sprain, which he suffered while scoring a try in the second half.
“I thought a quality performance was coming, but we’re also playing a really good side,” said New Zealand head coach Dave Rennie.
“So the arm wrestle in the first half [vs Australia at Eden Park], I thought we probably left a couple of opportunities out there, and then they scored late.”
Rennie, who coached the Wallabies for three seasons before being dismissed in favour of the ill-fated return of Eddie Jones in 2023, pinpointed a couple of specific areas he feel turned last week’s Test in the All Blacks’ favour.
“We did a good job looking after the ball, and we played in the right parts of the field. Created good momentum and pressure and benefited from that.
“We’re happy. We talked about a number of areas that needed to be better coming out of South Africa, and we saw good shifts. We’re confident in our ability, and we felt in Africa that we just lost key moments.
“We had a really good edge around training, and we were well aware of the importance of winning and also the Bledisloe Cup. So it was nice to nail that.”
The All Blacks head coach admitted the 31-point defeat at Eden Park won’t define this Wallabies side under Kiss, and he expects a stronger performance in Sydney.
“Yeah, look, it’s a tough end for them, but it was nice to catch up with a number of those guys post-game. Oh, they’ll be hurting.
“They’ve had a really good year, and I’m confident they’ll bounce back next week. Look, I’m very happy with the mindset and the work ethic brutality, and it was spot on.”
You can watch New Zealand’s All Blacks face Australia in Sydney on Saturday October 17 live on Sky Sports Main Event from 6am. Not got Sky? Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract