'We're not arrogant': All Blacks to be 'brave' with selections

SPOTLIGHT: The All Blacks will be out to get the balance right between testing new combinations ahead of the World Cup and showing respect to the Wallabies in their Rugby Championship Round Three clash in Melbourne on Saturday.

New Zealand will enter the Bledisloe Cup tie with one hand on the Rugby Championship trophy after wins over Argentina and South Africa in the first two rounds.

Experienced players like Sam Whitelock and Joe Moody are in need of some game time and then there are also youngsters like Cam Roigard and Samipeni Finau itching for an opportunity.

Centre Anton Lienert-Brown is also back from his suspension.

On that balance between making changes and trying to secure the Rugby Championship trophy and Bledisloe Cup, All Black forwards coach Jason Ryan said: "It’s a mix of both."

He added: "We’ve shown a little bit of momentum in parts of that [Springboks] game, and we want to build on that. We’ve really challenged this group - each Test is different, so we prepare accordingly.

"[World Cup decisions] are in our thoughts. We’ve genuinely got competition for spots right across the park. That’s good.

"What’s not being seen is how hard guys are working and how well they’re competing during the week, which is effectively setting us up for some good performances."

Despite their excellent form so far, the All Blacks are not getting ahead of themselves.

"We’ve won two Tests in a row," added Ryan.

"You can’t hide from that. One has been away from home and one has been against the world champions. We’re confident, but we’re not arrogant. We keep our feet on the ground and constantly strive to be better.

"[Mount Smart] was a step forward, but it’s not something we want to get carried away with. We still gave away a couple of soft scrum penalties and a soft maul try as well. That’s not where we want to be.

"By no means are we getting comfortable where we’re at. We’ve got to strive to be better."

Ryan used the second-row area as an example of the depth in the squad.

Scott Barrett, Brodie Retallick and Whitelock are the established trio and then you have Tupou Vaa’i and Josh Lord.

"We just pick the best teams. We were honest with the boys early on.

"We’ve got three world-leading locks and a couple of younger fellas doing a pretty good job as well.

"We’re brave in selections, there are no guarantees for anyone and that’s the way the All Blacks should be."

Source: stuff.co.nz