Wallabies skipper Michael Hooper has made the extraordinary claim he wouldn't swap any of his players for any All Black in the wake of another Bledisloe Cup failure.
Trying to remain positive after two heavy losses, Hooper said his side aren't as far off the world champions as the two scoreboards read - 38-13 in Sydney and 40-12 in Auckland.
Saturday's defeat at Eden Park was again dominated by New Zealand's prowess in broken play, setting up freakish playmaker Beauden Barrett to score four of six tries in a Bledisloe Cup-record points haul of 30.
It was a 22nd straight loss on New Zealand soil for the Wallabies.
They've lost 17 in succession at their Eden Park graveyard, including the last five by more than 20 points.
Yet Hooper insists they have the personnel to at the very least match New Zealand if they get it right.
He believes his team are still some distance from peaking, as borne out by missing 83 tackles across two games against the Kiwi attacking juggernaut.
It was nevertheless a surprise when he opined that no All Black would break into his Australian side if he was picking it - including Barrett.
"You look at the matchups tonight, of the players, and I'm keeping all our players you know?" he said.
"I'm not swapping any of them. So how we can get us as a group to reach our potential is the key.
"I'm going to keep fighting and keep swinging until we get there."
Flanker Hooper wasn't at his best in either Test, having recently returned from a hamstring injury lay-off.
At times he felt powerless to prevent the All Blacks attacking waves, often from deep and inevitably sparked by an Australian turnover.
"It happens very fast. On the field, our ability to get on the same page there is the issue and they know what they're doing," he said.
"While we're not aligned on things like that, a team like New Zealand are great there.
"Likewise when we turned over the ball, and we turned over plenty tonight, we weren't able to capitalise."
Hooper said the mood in the changing sheds was "pretty low" but he expects them to emerge stronger against South Africa in Brisbane in two weeks, even though their Rugby Championship hopes are virtually dead in the water.
He saw enough improvement in the set piece and sufficient attacking moments without the injured Israel Folau to be optimistic about their chances against the Springboks.
"To be putting these guys (All Blacks) under pressure for parts of the game is feeling good and then to see a scoreboard like that really hurts," he said.
"I just want to see our team do well and reach our potential."
