Wallabies lock Lukhan Salakaia-Loto believes the rumours of the All Blacks demise have been greatly exaggerated ahead of the second Test in Wellington.
Whilst the Wallabies went down 31-28 in Sydney, it’s the All Blacks that have arguably found themselves under more pressure to perform on Saturday after falling away in the second half.
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The All Blacks have not won a second half in the Rugby Championship, outscored 86-38 as they find themselves in third position in the competition.
It’s led to criticism from New Zealand about their inability to close out a game under new coach Scott Robertson.
This is only heightened by their return to Wellington, a place where the All Blacks have their worst record in the professional era.
However, Salakaia-Loto has swatted away these suggestions like he palmed off Damian McKenzie in the final minutes.
“I think the pressure is coming from (the media) if anything. Every team goes through spells like these and whether it’s Auckland, Wellington or Dunedin, they’re a world class outfit and it’s going to be a tough game,” he said.
“There’s always pressure from within to perform well and to win at home especially but I don’t read too much into that.
“…We’ve got to be good enough to win on the day so that’s on us. I don’t think it has anything to do with how the All Blacks are playing or what’s going on inside their camp but we know that come Saturday we’re going to have a tough match against the World Cup finalists last year.”
Salakaia-Loto featured in the Wallabies’ last match at Wellington, a 16-all draw in 2020.
Like Sydney, the All Blacks raced out to an early lead before the Australians launched a counter in the final quarter to set up a grandstand finish.
As the side hunts for its first win in New Zealand since 2001, Salakaia-Loto stressed the importance of starting strong.
"It was an arm-wrestle of a match that one," Salakaia-Loto reflected on 2020
"A tight contest but we're hoping that this isn't a tight contest, and hoping that we can get a result this week.
“…We definitely can't be giving up 28 points in the first half, that's for sure. We've got to start well and we've got to just keep taking moments when we can and taking our opportunities because coming up against sides like the All Blacks, South Africa, Argentina, they already present limited opportunities for us."
