Newly-appointed Wallabies captain Rocky Elsom says talk is cheap and has vowed to lead with deeds in Saturday night's Bledisloe Cup showdown with the All Blacks in Tokyo.

A man of few words, Elsom was typically succinct when asked on Friday what type of captain he'd like to be for the Wallabies as they set about kicking off their spring tour in style with a drought-breaking victory over their mighty trans-Tasman rivals.

"A really successful one would be ideal," he said.

The powerhouse flanker, who has replaced Stirling Mortlock as Australia's 76th Test captain, believes the skipper's role is a straightforward one: to inspire his charges with actions, not words.

"The performance is crucial. If you want to be leading guys, you want to be playing well and reinforcing the value that you're trying to promote within the team," Elsom said.

"That's very important, but there's not always a necessity to talk a lot on the field.

"We've prepared well, so that takes away the need for that at times. Of course there are some times you want to say a few things but you've got to be careful and choose your words well because you can only take so much in when you're on the field."

In addition to being charged with leading the Wallabies to a win after six consecutive Test losses to the All Blacks, Elsom has had to rally his troops from the setback of losing his deputy and the side's influential midfielder Berrick Barnes to a potentially tour-ending ankle injury on Thursday night.

The versatile Adam Ashley-Cooper had just half a training session plus Friday's captain's run to adapt to his new role after being switched from fullback to inside centre to cover for Barnes.

"Adam is a different player to Berrick, so that will influence the way we play but they're both capable and we've got ample plans, we believe, that we'll bring to the game," said Wallabies coach Robbie Deans.

"While they're different players, they both offer us a lot. I would suggest Adam Ashley-Cooper is perfectly capable of mastering any number of positions and I think he will show that tomorrow."

Ashley-Cooper said having the full faith of his coach and teammates gave him the confidence to fire wherever he was asked to play.

"I'm excited about the challenge," he said.

Ashley-Cooper will partner Ryan Cross in the centres for the first time since the pair came in for flak for several defensive blunders that proved costly in Australia's 32-25 loss to South Africa in Perth in August.

Ashley-Cooper said he and Cross had addressed the issue.

"Just a bit of miscommunication in our set-piece defence," he said.

"Obviously they had some great attack which exposed us, but we've been working really hard on that this week and are very confident about the midfield defence leading into tomorrow night."

More of a worry for Ashley-Cooper and his teammates are the narrow in-goal areas at Tokyo's National Stadium.

"I tell you what, there's going to be some bark lost," he said.

Mindful that it has been more than four hours since his side scored a try against the All Blacks, Deans was less concerned.

"Obviously the in-goals are quite short, but we'll be more than happy to get there," he said.

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