Wallabies coach Robbie Deans faces a massive task to take the heat off himself and his inconsistent players as they attempt to prevent a record losing streak against New Zealand on Saturday.

Australia must immediately bounce back from their disastrous 49-28 defeat by the rampant All Blacks at Etihad Stadium, when they meet again in Deans' home town of Christchurch.

The eighth-straight loss to New Zealand prompted Australian Rugby Union boss John O'Neill to admit on Sunday that "the dogs will be barking" about Deans' position at the Wallabies' helm.

Only once before has Australia fallen to nine straight defeats in 107 years of trans-Tasman encounters, from 1936 to 1947, and O'Neill on Sunday underlined the importance and expectation of beating their arch-rivals regularly.

Since he took the Wallabies post in 2008, Deans has led his team to just one win from nine matches against his home country and time is running out before next year's World Cup.

Five of those losses have been a result of second-half capitulations but Saturday night's seven-try rout was over as a contest in the 43rd minute when winger Drew Mitchell was sent off for a second soft yellow card at a time the home side trailed 32-14.

All Blacks fullback Mils Muliaina scored his second try, the visitors' fifth, moments later off a tight-head scrum win and the Wallabies were staring down the barrel of a record loss.

To their credit, the 14-man Australian outfit competed well from then to give Deans heart they can win their first Test on New Zealand soil in 10 years this weekend.

"They (NZ) are at the peak of their powers - they're playing with cohesion and their playing with confidence, they are the best side in the world," Deans said.

"I guess what we can take out of it is we have played the first half of rugby (in the Tri-Nations series) where anyone had been competitive with them. We've got to start with that."

Deans identified key areas - securing restarts and set-piece ball, first-up defence and composure - which let them down dreadfully after showing previously good signs in the 30-13 win over South Africa.

"They showed that their capacities went up in the second half under duress with 14 blokes, there was a lot more composure shown," he said.

"But we can't wait until we have a crisis to bring that in.

"I've got a lot of belief in this group in their capability and capacity. They'll get there as well but we don't have long."

While Deans conceded he was feeling the pressure, O'Neill said the heat would inevitably increase on the coach.

"If you're coaching the national team, there's an expectation that beating the All Blacks on a regular basis is part of a key performance indicator," O'Neill said on the ABC's Offsiders program.

"The pressure will be on. But the pressure is on all of us, the board, me, Robbie, the team.

"We still believe he's the right person for that job to take us through to the World Cup. But I think the dogs will be barking a bit and we just have to respond next Saturday."

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