Retribution and achieving a crucial watershed victory is driving the Wallabies against an equally-desperate All Blacks in Wellington.

Rarely has a dead rubber meant so much to two teams than Saturday's Tri-Nations finale at Westpac Stadium, where the winner will avoid the tournament wooden-spoon.

Neither is the four-Test Bledisloe Cup series up for grabs, with holders NZ enjoying a 2-0 lead with comeback victories in Auckland (22-16) and Sydney (19-18).

The pain of those defeats are still etched on the faces of several Wallabies.

"Yeah, it kills me. I hate it," said outside centre Adam Ashley-Cooper, who scored the game-breaking try in the breakthrough 22-6 upset of South Africa.

"They got us by one point in the last one in Sydney in our own backyard so what an opportunity to get a bit of payback in their backyard.

"They're two-up on us and we haven't won (in NZ) since 2001, there's too much to play for."

Australia have also lost their last five Tests against their trans-Tasman rivals, but a drought-breaking victory can go some way to salvaging an otherwise forgettable Tri-Nations campaign.

Ashley-Cooper's midfield partner Berrick Barnes labelled the match crucial in the maturing of Robbie Deans' developing team, which has a Grand Slam tour of the UK to look forward to.

"It's obviously time for us to put a fork in the road and move forward instead of a one-off performance and then going backwards," Barnes said.

"I think it's one of the most important games for us of the season."

The canny inside centre, who cursed himself for botching a first-half try that would have given the Wallabies a 17-3 lead in Auckland, also rates it "one of the best opportunities we've had in a long time over here".

"We had one in Auckland as well and we let that slip. We let another one slip in Sydney," he said.

In a tournament which started with kick-chase tactics dominating, both sides predicted more flair and ball-in-hand rugby as they attempt to play to their strengths.

NZ, whitewashed by the world champion Springboks, have copped plenty of criticism from the local media and former greats, with forwards coach Steve Hansen under most pressure following the continued failure of the lineout.

Wallabies enforcer Rocky Elsom is wary of the All Blacks after they made seven positional changes, but felt Australia's success in grinding out a two-try win in Brisbane had them primed to end their previous second-half Bledisloe Test fadeouts.

"There was a lot of good things out of that match in Brisbane, the fact that things went reasonably well for the Springboks early on and then we managed to get over the top of them, that was a real positive," he said.

"This is a brand new challenge and NZ have a point to prove. When you make changes like that and when you get the flak they're getting, they're a much harder team."

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