All Blacks captain Richie McCaw has urged his team-mates not to tarnish their perfect season with a poor showing against a rejuvenated Wallabies side in Sydney on Saturday night.
A victory will extend New Zealand's unbeaten run in Test matches to 15, while they would also become the first side to finish the Tri Nations undefeated since the tournament was expanded to six Tests per team in 2006.
Perhaps more significantly, the Kiwis will also complete their longest-ever winning streak over the Wallabies with a win at ANZ Stadium, having already inflicted nine-straight losses on Robbie Deans' charges.
But while McCaw admits the All Blacks have discussed the significance of their recent achievements, he insists his men are focused solely on this week's clash against a Wallabies team still buzzing from the win over South Africa at altitude.
"They'll be buoyed by what happened last weekend but I think from our point of view the guys are pretty excited about making sure we get into this game," McCaw said.
"And it would be disappointing to let our standards slip because it's the last game and we're not playing for the Tri Nations or the Bledisloe anymore."
"So that's what we've talked about and we want to finish off this part of the season with a strong performance."
"You want to go out and perform and that's what we're focusing on, and if it means we win the game and it means it gives us an extra (psychological) edge (over Australia) well that's great, but they're secondary things."
While impressed with the Wallabies' performance in the 41-39 win over the 'Boks in Bloemfontein, McCaw suggested the Springboks' lack of urgency also helped Australia's cause.
"The (South) Africans perhaps didn't quite have the intensity that they had (in previous matches)," he said.
"So it shows if you get the ball the way you want it you can put teams under pressure which is what they did against the (South) Africans."
"But if you take their time and space away like any team ... it makes it tough to play."
But when pressed on whether the win was more a product of good work from the Wallabies or lack of effort from the Springboks, McCaw conceded flyhalf Quade Cooper and his outside men had big part to play in the win.
"Sometimes defence looks ordinary when a team's doing it dead right," he explained.
"I've been in that situation too where you play really good rugby and the defence can't handle it, but the Wallabies certainly put some good rugby together and it made the 'Boks look quite average for a while."
Asked how the All Blacks plan to nullify Cooper in what will be his first Test against the All Blacks, McCaw replied: "I think you've seen in the last couple of weeks he backs himself to have a crack and takes reasonably good options most of the time and he's a real threat. So you've got to take his time and space away and not give him nice ball to operate with because that's when he makes you pay and you saw that at times in South Africa."