All Blacks preach focus amid Aussie indifference

New Zealand’s All Blacks arrive in Melbourne when the locals seemingly have little interest in the Rugby Championship.

That indifferent attitude is not something that will breed complacency in the All Blacks camp according to Jordie Barrett.

All Blacks wary of wounded Wallabies

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Barrett expects to face a Wallaby outfit vastly improved from last year’s Bledisloe and one smarting from a loss to South Africa where they were dominated.

Melbourne is gripped by AFL finals fever but the All Blacks still expect intensity from their Trans-Tasman rivals.

Barrett admitted it was an interesting atmosphere to be part of but also likely a distraction.

“It’s the AFL finals week, so there’s plenty going on but more importantly we’ve got a Bledisloe to win,” Barrett said.

“We’ve freshened up, we’ve had a few days off, and we’ve got an Aussie side that’s hurting after their loss to South Africa (last week) so there’s a great feeling in camp.

“It was cool to understand a different game. It’s an interesting concept to grasp a whole city that’s mad on one sport.”

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All focus for Barrett and the boys

Barrett says that the low-key build-up will not throw the All Blacks off their game.

“Whether everyone is out there talking about us or not, we’ve got a job to do; we need to prepare accordingly,” he said.

“There’s an Australian side that hasn’t had a taste of the Bledisloe in a long time, so if we’re any short of our mark in terms of our preparation, we just open ourselves up, so we’re going to nail each day this week.”

The Wallabies will face in the All Blacks on Thursday 15 September at the Marvel Stadium in Docklands, Melbourne.