New Zealand make five changes for Sydney clash

Aaron Cruden's first Test start at fly-half coincides with Piri Weepu's elevation ahead of Jimmy Cowan at scrum-half. The halves combination, together with centres Ma'a Nonu and Conrad Smith, plus right wing Cory Jane, means there are five Hurricanes in the seven-man backline.

Hawke's Bay prodigy Israel Dagg gets a chance to impress on the left wing in Sydney, with Joe Rokocoko dropping out of the 22-man squad.

In the pack, blindside flanker Victor Vito earns a start, which pushes Jerome Kaino to the bench, and Owen Franks regains his No 3 jersey, while Anthony Boric could see some rare game-time after being preferred to Sam Whitelock as the third lock.

Canterbury pivot Colin Slade is in line to make his Test debut off the bench, and Northland's Rene Ranger has also been included among the replacements as outside back cover.

All Blacks coach Graham Henry said his men were expecting a strong challenge from the Wallabies, who would take confidence from their win over the Springboks in Bloemfontein.

"The Wallabies will be up for a big game coming off the back of a good away win and playing in front of their home crowd in Sydney, so they will come out firing," Henry said.

Richie McCaw will lead the side for the 52nd time in Tests, which moves him past Sean Fitzpatrick as the most capped Test skipper in All Blacks history.

A win for the All Blacks would seal a record tenth consecutive victory over Australia, and a 15th in a row for the current team, while also becoming the first team to win all six matches in a Tri Nations series.

In the Australia side, Lachie Turner replaces the injured Drew Mitchell in the only change following their 41-39 win over South Africa last weekend.

Australia: K Beale; J O'Connor, A Ashley-Cooper, M Giteau, L Turner; Q Cooper, W Genia; Benn Robinson, Stephen Moore, Salesi Ma'afu, Mark Chisholm, Nathan Sharpe, Rocky Elsom, David Pocock, Ben McCalman. Subs: H Edmonds, J Slipper, D Mumm, R Brown, L Burgess, B Barnes, A Fainga'a.

New Zealand: M Muliaina; C Jane, C Smith, M Nonu, I Dagg; A Cruden, P Weepu; T Woodcock, K Mealamu, O Franks, B Thorn, T Donnelly, V Vito, R McCaw (capt), K Read. Subs: C Flynn, J Afoa, A Boric, J Kaino, J Cowan, C Slade, R Ranger.