Sydney, July 25: Australia skipper George Gregan says his team must beat New Zealand on Saturday if they are to restore confidence ahead of the World Cup. Gregan leads the Wallabies into the Tri-Nations encounter in Sydney on the back of defeats to South Africa and England.
"It's important for the team to bounce back," said Gregan. "We're not that far away but it's good for team confidence to get a win. "This is a part of a series of steps leading to a totally different tournament, but from a team environment, it'll be good for us to put in a really good performance that we're happy with."
Former rugby league internationals, Wendell Sailor, Lote Tuqiri and Mat Rogers, who will be starting together in an Australia side for the first time.

And Gregan believes the pressure of the annual Bledisloe Cup clash will bring out the best in them.

"You don't get a much bigger stage than what they'll be playing on tomorrow night," he said.

"But you just need to look at their league careers, they played very well at the highest level and produced some of their best performances in that environment.

"Every player wants to win this match, we all know what's at stake.

"These games are great to play in, they're played at great pace and both teams go out with a positive attitude."

Bureau Report.