All Blacks coach Graham Henry concedes he's been tapping the brains of his Crusaders contingent in an attempt to get inside the head of Wallabies boss Robbie Deans.

The two Kiwi coaches will go head-to-head for the first time in a Test match on Saturday night when Deans' Australia take on Henry's New Zealand in the Bledisloe Cup and Tri-Nations blockbuster at ANZ Stadium.

The clash has been spiced up considerably by the presence of the two New Zealanders, particularly as they were both contenders for the All Blacks job after last year's World Cup letdown, before Henry was reappointed.

Deans coached the Crusaders until the end of this year's Super 14 competition, taking them to five titles during his nine-year reign.

Asked at the All Blacks' only Australian press conference whether he had discussed Deans' likely thought patterns with his Crusaders players, Henry said: "That's a good idea. Obviously we go down those paths."

He added he was expecting something special from the likes of Crusaders Daniel Carter, Andy Ellis and Brad Thorn.

"I'm sure they're highly motivated," Henry said.

"Respect drives competition, doesn't it, and I'm sure the respect is mutual between the players who played for the Crusaders and Robbie.

"When you respect somebody I think that brings out an extra edge and I'm sure they'll play with edge tomorrow night."

The lead-up to Saturday's Test has been dominated by the Deans factor and former Wales coach Henry said he could understand the conflicting emotions the Wallabies mentor could feel.

"I can understand he's emotional," Henry said.

"I'd imagine it's not an easy job to coach another team against your own country. I coached Wales for a while and we didn't play the All Blacks during that time.

"I can understand that emotion and it will be interesting how he handles it.

"My situation hasn't changed really, we've played Australia probably 10, 12 times since I've been coaching the All Blacks and it's another huge game against Australia."

Henry, though, denied he was under more pressure because Deans had challenged him for his job last year.

"I think every Test match of this magnitude ... is a huge game and once they're over the next one's a huge game," he said.

"It's no different. We played the Springboks two weeks ago in Dunedin and that was major Test match and I was pretty nervous before that one and I'm nervous before this one.

"There's obviously a wee bit more interest for you people and the public because Robbie's coaching Australia ... and that's great for the game and great for the edge of the game.

"But from my point of view it's not personal, it's about trying to help this team play a top quality game of football that's good enough to win."

Henry refused to buy into suggestions from Wallaby great John Eales and winger Lote Tuqiri that the All Blacks had lost an aura of invincibility, but he did say his side was in a rebuilding phase.

"Half this side wasn't there last year and they haven't experienced this level of rugby and so (the Tri-Nations) is hugely competitive," he said.

"It's obviously a much greater challenge for this group of players."

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