Slaughtering the Wallabies will make the All Blacks real contenders

Eddie Jones is half-right.

Jones, the Wallabies coach, was quoted this week saying the All Blacks haven’t been put under pressure in the opening two rounds of The Rugby Championship.

He’s spot on there.

Argentina were blown away in Mendoza, while the greatest pressure exerted upon the All Blacks against South Africa came from themselves.

Having led 20-3 at halftime and played genuinely scintillating rugby, the All Blacks went defensive. From tearing the Springboks apart by having men and the ball in motion, New Zealand invited their opponents into the game by kicking the pill away and allowing a stop-start, set-piece orientated game to replace it.

It’s to the All Blacks’ great credit that they weathered the South African comeback, but they could have killed the game off much sooner than they eventually did.

Where Jones is wrong, is in his belief that the Wallabies can apply a type of pressure that Argentina and South Africa has not.

Australia is not a good side and the All Blacks should beat them comfortably in Melbourne on Saturday night.

The only pressure on New Zealand is the fact they know that too.

I’ll be intrigued to see how the All Blacks go.

I was pleasantly surprised by the ferocity and skill of their performance against the Pumas.

Thinking back, I shouldn’t have been taken aback.

This team needed to put a marker down, if it was to have any hope at this year’s Rugby World Cup. It had to show it’s no pushover and that opposing teams won’t be able to dictate terms.

The All Blacks never allowed Argentina into the contest, demonstrating the immense desire the team clearly has to impose itself this year.

Against South Africa, they were too quick, too clever and too relentless at the breakdown to ever be in danger of losing.

Again, to me, that showed the hunger of this All Blacks side.

The Springboks, if not quite the absolute benchmark, are regarded as an elite side. Pummeling the Pumas was one thing, but New Zealand had to show it can play that calibre of rugby against a world cup contender.

In the process, they perhaps showed this Springboks squad is slightly on the decline.

Australia is harder.

They are nowhere near a benchmark side. They might be a storied foe, but they don’t appear to be much competition at the moment.

In international rugby, where the margin between good and average is a fine one, that presents a challenge for the All Blacks.

So I want to see them be ruthless on Saturday. To treat Australia as a team of consequence, rather than one in the midst of a massive rebuild.

If mentally the All Blacks aren’t quite at the level they were against Argentina and South Africa, then winning at the Melbourne Cricket Ground might prove more difficult than it needs to be.

But if the All Blacks can dispose of Australia in an emphatic fashion, then I might have to take back some of the unkind things I’ve written and declare them absolute world cup contenders.