Australia will fight fire with fire when they take the field for their final Tri-Nations Test of the season against New Zealand in Auckland on Saturday.
That’s the message from national coach Eddie Jones who insists the Wallabies were pumped up and determined to avoid their fifth successive Test loss.
The All Blacks will regain the coveted Tri-Nations crown from South Africa if they beat Australia at Eden Park.
But Jones warned that his injury-hit squad was ready for the battle after a "really good week’s preparation" at their headquarters on the New South Wales mid-north coast.
"We have so many young players in camp but there has plenty of enthusiasm, which has been nice to see," Jones said.
And he vowed that the Wallabies would be a much more physical side on Saturday, echoing comments made by inside centre Morgan Turinui at the start of the week.
Turinui warned the Wallabies would no longer rely on the referee to enforce the rules at the tackle contest.
"From now on if players are lying over the ball, we’ll deal with them," he told The Australian newspaper.
"If they come in from the side to attack the half-back (scrum-half), we’ll deal with them.
"We’ll do it legally. We’ll come in ‘through the gate’ but we are going to be really efficient in cleaning guys out."
Jones, while emphasising that the Wallabies would continue to play an up-tempo, quick-ball game, shared Turinui’s opinions on the breakdown.
"We played special attention to the breakdown and set-pieces, such as the scrum and line-outs, in camp this week," Jones said.
"The breakdown is an area that concerns me. We have to take the initiative in both hands.
"We have to be more physical in these areas of the game.
"We have to be ruthless just as South Africa and New Zealand have been."
Australia side to face New Zealand: D Mitchell; M Gerrard, C Rathbone, M Turinui, L Tuqiri; M Rogers, G Gregan (captain); B Young, B Cannon, A Baxter, M Chisholm, N Sharpe, R Elsom, P Waugh, G Smith.
Replacements: A Freier, M Dunning, A Kanaar, J Roe, C Whitaker, L MacKay, L Johansson.
