Monster prop Rodney Blake is bracing himself for "World War III" after being recalled to the Wallabies front-row for Saturday night's Bledisloe Cup and Tri-Nations showdown with the All Blacks at Suncorp Stadium.

Blake, at 130kg the biggest man ever to play Test rugby for Australia, has been billed as somewhat of a saviour heading into the Wallabies' must-win match against the world's top-ranked team.

But the 23-year-old Tongan-born, New Zealand-raised heavyweight has missed the Wallabies' last three outings with an ankle injury and has admitted to be feeling the burden of expectation.

He agreed with Wallabies coach John Connolly it was unfair for anyone to expect miracles from him as Australia strives to reverse a 32-12 loss to New Zealand and set up a Bledisloe Cup series decider in Auckland next month.

"(The hype surrounding my return) is going to put pressure on me, saying I'm the only guy who can make the difference, but I'm not the player to make a difference," Blake said.

"I'm just another player coming into the team through selection and I've just got to do what I have to do on the field.

"It's tough when you come back from injury and you've been out for nearly six weeks or two months.

"Coming back is a big step but it's something you've got to be ready for."

Asked exactly what he was ready for from the first scrum on Saturday, Blake said: "I will be prepared for World War III, I think. They'll come hard. Both teams are going to go hard."

Blake will be playing only his third Test and conceded going head-to-head with the vastly-experienced Tony Woodcock represented possibly the greatest challenge of his budding international career, and he was hoping for support from the rest of the Wallabies pack.

"I've propped against him in Super 14 and he was quite an attacking loosehead on our ball. I'm going to have to step up and counter that what he does," he said.

"To come up against one of the best front rowers in the world, it's something we have to work together as an eight to get the scrummaging right."

Connolly concurred and even claimed scrummaging was not the key factor in Blake's selection ahead of fellow 23-year-old rookie Guy Shepherdson.

"Mainly it's just his bulk," Connolly said. "There's not much between their scrummaging. We probably think that he gives us a bit more around the field sometimes.

"(The scrum) is an eight-man operation and you've got to remember Rodney didn't perform terribly well against England.

"It was a hard selection between he and Guy Shepherdson. We haven't resolved the reserves yet."

Connolly named an extended nine-man bench and must weigh up whether to include Shepherdson in the squad as back-up for Blake, who managed 70 minutes in his comeback match last week for Australia A against Fiji, or go with the more versatile Al Baxter, who can play either loosehead or tighthead prop.

Blake's inclusion is the only change to the team that started in the Wallabies' record-breaking 49-0 drubbing of South Africa in Brisbane two weeks ago.

"There's no doubt you can take confidence out of that performance," Connolly said.

"You are definitely happy to have won and we definitely got some confidence out of it, but you're also knowing it wasn't real Test footy.

"But we felt pretty good about ourselves afterwards and that's important within a team."

Halfback George Gregan will reach another career milestone, equalling John Eales' record of 55 Tests as Wallabies captain in his 124th Test outing.

Australia: Chris Latham, Mark Gerrard, Stirling Mortlock, Matt Giteau, Lote Tuqiri, Stephen Larkham, George Gregan (capt), Scott Fava, George Smith, Rocky Elsom, Dan Vickerman, Nathan Sharpe, Rodney Blake, Jeremy Paul, Greg Holmes. Res: Tai McIsaac, Al Baxter, Guy Shepherdson, Mark Chisholm, Phil Waugh, Wycliff Palu, Sam Cordingley, Mat Rogers, Clyde Rathbone (two to be omitted from bench).

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP