The All Blacks are embracing the "fear of losing" the Bledisloe Cup to the Wallabies and using it as motivation to ensure they come away with the bragging rights for another year.
New Zealand have held the trophy for almost 20 years, after reclaiming the honours in 2003, but their up-and-down form has some tipping Australia for a potential upset.
Both sides have struggled for consistency, but the All Blacks are riding the wave of their 53-3 demolition of Argentina in their last test in the Rugby Championship.
But a Bledisloe Cup loss to the Wallabies would add to a growing list of unwanted historic records for coach Ian Foster's side this year.
With the first test in Melbourne on Thursday, before the return fixture in Auckland next week, All Blacks captain Sam Cane said his team is fuelled by the idea of handing over the trophy.
"Yeah - absolutely," he said. "Winning and losing, they're both sort of strong motivators but in different ways.
"There is a fear of losing it, there is the pressure, but you look at that in a positive spin too, it's something that motivates us to make sure it's not on our watch.
"The way we do it is that nobody is holding the trophy, and when it comes up for grabs again each year, it's on the line and both teams have a good chance of winning it. It's up to us to go out there and take it.
"We're proud of the performance we put out the other weekend, but it's certainly the time to back it up.
"We haven't been pleased with our inconsistency this year and with a trophy like this on the line, it's a tough place to play Aussie in Australia.
"We haven't always had great success here, we know it being a two-match series compared to three, the first one is critical."
The All Blacks will be boosted by the fact they only need to win one of the two tests to retain the Cup, by being the current holders.
Cane expects the Wallabies to come out firing in Melbourne, in what is a must-win clash for the desperate hosts, if they are to turn the 20-year tide.
"They've got a very good forward pack, they've had a lot of success with their driving maul and when they get humming, they can score points quickly," he said.
"We've done a lot of work on them, and plenty of work on ourselves as always, but we feel like we've had a good week's prep… We can't wait for it.
"The thing about the Aussies is it doesn't matter what's going on, they've always got plenty of confidence in themselves and their ability.
"They've shown time and time again how they can front up, we've seen some absolute classic matches in the time I've been involved, where games go right down to the wire.
"I expect the intensity to be right up here tomorrow night right from the outset, it will be a brutal encounter and we're ready for it."
Join us from 9:45pm Thursday for live updates of the All Blacks v Wallabies Bledisloe Cup test
