NZ Kiwis hope they can put a smile back on Aotearoa sports fans' faces in their Pacific Championship finale against the Kangaroos on Saturday.
With the nation still processing the All Blacks' brutally close World Cup final defeat to South Africa, fullback Charzne Nicoll-Klokstad is confident a New Zealand upset in Hamilton this weekend to claim the competition spoils should go a long way to escalating their healing.
"[The All Blacks] have been able to do wonders and we get the chance to try and lift the spirts of the people of New Zealand this weekend," said Nicoll-Klokstad.
The Kiwis went toe to toe with the Australians for the majority of last weekend's dress rehearsal in Melbourne, only to be letdown late in the match by some laspes in defence in a 36-18 defeat – a scoreline which somewhat flattered the Australians.
"We had a lot of discipline areas, a lot of dropped ball and penalties which we don't need in this game – at international level we can't be doing that," said rookie forward Griffin Neame.
"Australia had none of that so they were on top of us the whole game, and I guess if we can get that right and build pressure during the game hopefully we'll go a lot better."
Nicoll-Klokstad concurs, adding coach Michael Maguire had put the team through its paces at training this week to ensure a more accurate and defensive display across the entire 80minutes at FMG Stadium.
"Defence wins games and we defended really well, we just missed our moments," he explained.
"There's moments in games we need to execute a bit better and I think when we get those moments this weekend, we're going to look to ice them."
The match will carry some extra sentimentality for North Queensland Cowboys prop Neame, who'll take to the field for his test on home soil.
The 22-year-old's family will travel north from the West Coast to see him in action this weekend and he's desperate to ensure he does the occasion justice.
"It's pretty special," Neame admitted.
"Growing up, the test match you watched was New Zealand v Australia and I was in a household where we hated the Kangaroos.
"This is a very special test and my family is coming up for it. Really looking forward to it."
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