Unbeaten after five Tests, Wallabies coach Les Kiss is preparing for his biggest challenge to date with Australia set to take on the All Blacks at Eden Park to open the Bledisloe Cup series in two weeks' time.
The Wallabies are flying high after an incredible escape against the Springboks that saw the side reduced to 11 men through the final 10 minutes of the clash, claiming a four-point 42-28 victory, but are wary of a wounded beast that is the All Blacks who currently sit on a three-game winless run.
The All Blacks haven't lost a match at fortress Eden Park in 52 Tests, while the Wallabies haven't beaten New Zealand in five years, and haven't won on New Zealand soil since 2001. It's also been 28 years since the All Blacks last lost four Tests in a row, and while the Wallabies are confident, Kiss is aware of the mammoth task ahead of them.
"It's going to be tough," Kiss told reporters at the Rugby World Cup one year countdown launch in Sydney.
"They are unbeaten there in 52 Tests at Eden Park. It's going to be a formidable challenge. I wouldn't know the stats, but the last time they would have lost four in a row, I don't know if that's happened before, but that makes it even more challenging.
"The Springboks, they raise the standard, this is another challenge and opportunity for us to see where we can go with it.
"We've got a huge amount of respect for that New Zealand team, so it's going to be interesting."
The task has been made even more challenging with the Wallabies to be without midfielder Hunter Paisami through suspension, while fellow centre Len Ikitau is questionable after coming from the field with an ankle injury on the weekend. Meanwhile, lock Josh Canham -- a late scratching last week -- is unlikely to be available.
Kiss's decision to focus on building depth and combinations across several positions through his opening five Tests means he has the firepower to plug the gaps though, with Lukhan Salakaia-Loto proving more than capable against the Springboks last week.
"Jeremy Williams and Lukhan together was a pretty good block combination we're ready to flex at any given time.
"I think that competition [for positions] has been fantastic. It's been a tough selection process, and it's getting tougher, and so it should be. Players that get injured have to go out, and players that come in, it's hard to get that position back.
"But we need that competition, we need that to be so competitive to a point that people are really going to do whatever they need to to stay in that squad, and also do what they need to to get back into it. Sometimes it's just a tough decision, and there's no real reason why some players aren't in that squad.
"But that's lovely to have. It's a lovely situation to be able to say, I just can't include you in a 34-man squad at this stage, it's tough. But I know there's some boys who are hungry to get back in, and I know there's boys who are hungry to stay in it.
"Even if we had a squad that everyone thinks is our best squad, we're going to Eden Park, and they're unbeaten in 50-odd Tests or something. Have they lost four games in a row before? I don't know, so it's certainly going to be tough."
It's not an unfamiliar position for the Wallabies entering a Bledisloe series. Over the last five years Australia has entered the series confident they could end the long-standing Bledisloe drought, but have instead been dispatched, multiple times, in blowout losses.
Despite their recent improvement across many facets of their game, including their set piece and attacking structure, discipline remains a sticking point -- witnessed by their four quickfire yellow cards in Perth -- with head contact an area of concern.
"It's always a work-on," Kiss said when asked about tackle discipline. "We'll make sure that we'll address it. The boys have already addressed it internally, knowing that we make sure we do the work that we need to stay away from that space.
"But I don't think it's a problem for us, that's for sure. Just some extenuating circumstances raised the tension in the game and some reactions were there. There was no malicious intent. It was just how the events unfolded in that way.
"More importantly than those was the fight and the care and the connection. That's always there, but it was a great opportunity for everyone to see that and for them to express it the way they did.
"It wasn't perfect, but there were some really good strong qualities there. That's a great thing to take forward with confidence. Yet, let's face it, we're playing a team that hasn't been beaten at Eden Park for 52 Tests or something. That's a challenge."