Eddie Jones is struggling to analyse where the Bledisloe Cup will be won as an “unsettled” All Blacks outfit come up against a much-changed Wallabies side.
The ex-Australia head coach previewed the contest on the Rugby Unity podcast where he delved into the state of the two teams.
Jones started with New Zealand, who are coming into the game off the back of a heavy defeat to the Springboks in Wellington.
Scott Robertson has generally opted for continuity, only making one tactical alteration in the starting XV with the other changes either injury-enforced or key players returning after being on the sidelines.
All Blacks captain out
The 65-year-old believes the hosts are “in a massive state of flux”, however, and that the loss of Scott Barrett only adds to their issues.
“I really struggle to see where either team can be dominant,” he said. “Barrett’s out, who’s been the most stable tight five forward.”
Jones then discussed the second-row pairing that will take on the Wallabies and he is not necessarily convinced, making a brutal remark about the All Blacks’ wind-up merchant.
“You’ve got a young guy in [Fabian] Holland and that Tupou Vaa’i, who’s been doing most of his best work after the whistle,” he said.
“It’s not a settled team. Usually in a Bledisloe Cup, one team goes in as a pretty strong favourite and the other team’s the underdog.
“You try to get a picture of the game and I’m really struggling.”
Jones also feels head coach Robertson may have looked happy enough in his press conference following the team announcement, but that it was not necessarily the case given their current predicament.
“I just watched a little bit of Scott Robertson doing his press conference because I think it always gives you a pretty good indication of where the team is at,” he said.
“Like all coaches these days, they’re smiling, but I don’t think he was smiling on the inside.
“He probably had someone telling him to, ‘smile, smile, it’s the best day of your life’. He’s up there thinking, ‘this bloke told me it’s the best day of my life, but it’s not really the best day of my life, I’ve just lost my captain’.”
The ex-England boss added: “The thing that struck me about the press conference was how much he was taken back to the South African game.
“They kept asking him about it and kept going back to it, so how do they get their focus? After a loss like that in New Zealand, the media pressure, outside pressure, fan pressure, New Zealand Rugby pressure – you can’t discount that.
“Barrett’s a guy that is improving his captaincy and would keep things pretty calm for the team. You would then be thinking how they would cope with that pressure.”
Where the Wallabies stand
While Jones sees a plethora of problems for the All Blacks, he remains sceptical that Australia are in a position to take advantage of that.
They are missing Will Skelton and Rob Valetini up front, while only Joseph Suaalii and Corey Toole stay in the same backline spot from the Argentina defeat.
He also issued a timely remainder about the Wallabies’ record this season, despite the consensus being that Joe Schmidt’s men are improving.
“For Australia, there are a lot of changes. The nine and 10 (Tate McDermott and James O’Connor) aren’t strong kicking players. They can both kick but Tate’s not picked for his box-kicking, he’s picked for his running game,” Jones said.
“I think Australia will try to attack them more because they’re probably going in with a little bit more of a settled team, and probably a little bit more confidence as they know how they want to play.
“New Zealand after the last Test will be thinking, ‘we’re not quite sure how we want to play’.
“If you’re a gambler, I reckon you would be struggling to get a form line on these teams.
“The only other thing I would say is that Australia have done really well but, everything they’re saying about Australia being consistent, the bottom line is they’ve won three of seven Tests, so they’re still a team in development.”