By Robert Smith
Sydney - The heat is on coach Robbie Deans as the Wallabies struggle to avoid repeating a grim period of their 79-year Bledisloe Cup history against the rampant All Blacks in Christchurch next weekend.
Deans watched on glumly as his Wallabies went under a New Zealand avalanche of seven tries in a near-record 49-28 Tri-Nations loss at Melbourne's Docklands stadium on Saturday.
It was Australia's eighth straight loss under Deans against the All Blacks and another defeat on the ex-Canterbury Crusaders coach's old patch next Saturday will equal the all-time nine-match losing sequence between 1936-47.
Yet again the Wallabies failed to get to grips with the All Blacks, who have now strung together 12 victories since their loss to the Springboks in Hamilton last September.
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The Wallabies' task was made even more difficult when winger Drew Mitchell was red-carded by South African referee Craig Joubert, leaving his teammates to fend for themselves a man down for most the second half.
The game was over as a contest with New Zealand leading 32-14 after earning a bonus point for their four first-half tries, three of them coming off Australian mistakes.
"It could have been worse," Deans admitted after the match.
"Once we were down to 14 men and we were playing for pride there was potential there for (the scoreline) to blow out."
"We have an opportunity next week in Christchurch and you keep going and try to find some solutions."
Counterpart Graham Henry, who has strained relations with his one-time rival for the All Blacks top job, offered little sympathy.
"Personally, if I had eight losses in a row I'd find it very difficult to handle to be frank," Henry told his post-match press conference.
"You'd feel under a lot of heat, that's the nature of international sport, I guess," added Henry, who himself had been under pressure after the All Blacks' shock quarter-final exit at the 2007 World Cup.
The All Blacks, holders of the Bledisloe Cup since 2003, can retain the trans-Tasman trophy for another year with victory in the second game of the four-match series in Christchurch.
New Zealand have taken charge of the Tri-Nations series to lead the southern hemisphere championship by 11 points over Australia, with South Africa yet to register a point.
It was their third bonus-point win of this year's Tri-Nations and only their 50-21 romp in Sydney in 2003 ranks above their highest score against the Wallabies. - Sapa-AFP
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