The All Blacks have already convincingly seen off Wales, Scotland and Ireland and with England struggling Carter believes his side have every right to feel confident.

“This is the final hurdle of what would be a very successful year if we can do it on Saturday. It would be huge. It is a real goal we have been working towards.”

Wales opted to stand their ground in an act of defiance but Nonu believes it showed disrespect to both his team and his country.

He commented, “People back home will have been hurt by what they decided to do. Standing in the way like they did is asking for a fight. My blood pressure was pretty high but then I regained my composure. I was a bit upset about it.”

Richard Kahui comes in for the injured Conrad Smith at centre in an otherwise unchanged team including three props.

Coach Graham Henry believes that his side face a tough match against the Six Nations winners. “They (Wales) play an expansive style of attacking rugby and have talent across the park, so it’s shaping up to be another classic encounter.”

Despite only being 3 points ahead just before the interval, the All Blacks pushed on to claim a comfortable win and Henry says they were always in control.

“We’re pleased with the result. The guys played well and we dominated the game most of the time. We played with tempo but were frustrated that we created chances that we didn’t finish. A couple of tries went begging.”

New Zealand, who play Australia next week to decide the Tri-Nations title, recorded 15 tries with Mils Muliaina grabbing a hat-trick.

Dan Carter scored six conversions to round off what was a comprehensive and ruthless team performance.