SYDNEY, Oct 15 : Australia's hopes of upsetting the All Blacks in the second Bledisloe Cup test were already looking slim after last week's thumping in Auckland, but they were on life-support on Thursday after flyhalf Ben Donaldson was ruled out by injury.
In the absence of the injured Carter Gordon, Donaldson had been solid in the number 10 shirt and made contributions to two of Australia's tries in the 50-19 loss at Eden Park that saw the Bledisloe Cup remain in New Zealand for a 24th straight year.
On Thursday, though, an injury to his kicking leg ruled Donaldson out of Saturday's contest at Stadium Australia and Declan Meredith will instead win his fourth cap at flyhalf, with the uncapped Harry McLaughlin-Phillips backing up on the bench.
"We went into the session, gave 'Donno' a chance to see how that felt," coach Les Kiss told reporters after naming his team on Thursday.
"Got warmed up, and we just felt it's not worth the risk for him, for the team, so we just moved on quickly. Considering that we have got four more tests after this one, it's important to make sure Donno is in good nick."
While no one would suggest that Donaldson would be the difference between Australia winning or losing on Saturday, another disruption to the combinations that Kiss has managed to forge in his six tests as coach will not help.
He had already been forced to bring Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii back into the midfield with Isaac Henry because of Len Ikitau's concussion and Hunter Paisami's suspension.
The Wallabies have now lost their last 12 tests against their trans-Tasman Sea rivals and will be desperate for a win over the All Blacks in front of their own fans to build some momentum ahead of the World Cup on home soil next year.
ALL BLACKS 'CAN BE BETTER', SAYS RENNIE
Dave Rennie was coach of the Wallabies at the start of that losing streak, but on Thursday was naming his All Blacks team for Saturday's clash.
He was also without his first two choices at flyhalf for the second straight game but again had the luxury of being able to select the experienced Damian McKenzie in the key role with twice World Player of the Year Beauden Barrett in reserve at fullback.
Rennie suggested last week's game was closer than the scoreline would suggest and said there would be no letting up from his side, even though the Bledisloe Cup was already secure.
"It was good last week, we did a lot of really good things, but we still think we can be better," Rennie, who made three changes to his side, told reporters in Sydney on Thursday.
"We've got a good side on the field against a Wallabies side we know will be hurting. I think they'll still take confidence from a big chunk of that game, and I'm sure they'll bar up in the weekend."
Kiss has beefed up his bench to try and prevent the dropoff that saw the Wallabies concede five tries in the second half last week and was confident of a good showing by his team on home soil.
"We believe that we have a game that can win this on the weekend for sure, with the people we have," he said.
"But we're going to go out there and make sure we represent ourselves in a way that people are proud."