With the celebrations having now died down in Brisbane, Berrick Barnes has already put his hand up to fill the gap left by the banned Quade Cooper.

Australia recorded an opening Tri-Nations victory on Saturday as they condemned the Springboks to three-straight defeats in the 2010 competition.

However their next assignment will be a tougher one against New Zealand, particularly with the hosts being without their starting fly-half.

The Australian Rugby Union (ARU) promptly appealed against the ban but it seems likely that their attempts will be unsuccessful, which in all probability would see Barnes come in at number twelve while Matt Giteau reverts to ten.

Yet All Blacks Assistant Coach Wayne Smith is unsure as to whether the absence of the multi-talented Cooper will be a positive or negative for his in-form side, who are building nicely for 2011.

"You seldom prepare for one player," Smith said, speaking to NZPA.

"As defence coach I've found it (Australia) quite a difficult team to prepare for because they've got a lot of strategies, a lot of different plays, they switch play quickly and they offload well.

"They give a lot of inside balls - that's a team thing rather than a Quade Cooper thing."

Barnes is considered the more low-risk option for the Wallabies and that might work in their favour with New Zealand according to Smith, with the All Blacks having pounced on South Africa's mistakes in an impressive opening two showings.

"Barnes is a very capable player, we've had a bit to do with him the last couple of years," Smith continued.

The 24-year-old was given the fly-half responsibilities during World Cup 2007 and took to it like a duck to water. And he admits there will be no risk of him becoming overawed by the occasion this Saturday.

"I don't think there's any more pressure. You're just brought in to do a job," Barnes said.

"I won't play the same sort of style as Quade and do the same sort of things but I'll bring what I can to the table and I'll have a lot of help outside me in the form of Gits (Giteau).

"Gits and I have played together enough to know each other's skill sets."

Looking ahead to the weekend, Barnes revealed he was eager to end Australia's current seven-match losing run against the All Blacks. But it won't be easy.

"You can dream up big words, at the end of the day we have to finish it off," he said.

"The All Blacks are relentless, they don't stop for the 80, that's something we've been guilty of."

planetrugby.com

26/07/2010