The Wallabies must successfully target dynamic All Blacks second rowers Brodie Retallick and Sam Whitelock when they attempt to turn their Bledisloe Cup fortunes around, says Rory Arnold.
The formidable duo of Retallick and Whitelock has been one of the great strengths of the world champion All Blacks' forward machine in recent years and both are used to winning against the Wallabies.
Whitelock has tasted defeat just three times in 20 games Tests against Australia and Retallick once in 15.
Rising Wallabies lock Rory Arnold acknowledged getting an edge over the duo was key for his team.
"They've been world-class locks now for a number of years, so if we want to dominate up front we know we've got to go at those blokes," said Arnold.
"We're going to have to be at our best, the second-rowers, to take those blokes on."
While Whitelock and Retallick have been a constant force for New Zealand, Australia have chopped and changed their second row combinations since the 2015 World Cup final against the All Blacks.
Coach Michael Cheika used five starting second-row combinations in the first five Tests of 2016 and seven in total across the season, with six different locks getting an opportunity in the run-on side.
In the recent June Tests, Cheika started with Adam Coleman and Sam Carter and then brought in Arnold for the last match.
"He sort of swapped and changed a fair bit last year, so I'm not sure how he's going to go this year with those second-row spots," Arnold said.
Arnold said he felt a little bit more comfortable in the international environment than in his first season at that level last year.
He said the Wallabies could draw some things from the British and irish Lions' efforts in the recent drawn three-Test series.
"They had really good (defensive) line speed, their kicking was on point, so I guess if anything we can take some of that away from it," he said.
The Wallabies host the All Blacks at ANZ Stadium on August 19 before the second Test in Dunedin a week later.
Share
