Brad Thorn gets off the floor for one more

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THORN IN THE SIDE: All Blacks lock Brad Thorn is expecting a torrid battle against Australia in the Tri-Nations/Bledisloe Cup clash in Wellington.

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Blindsided by a thunderous hit from Springboks skipper John Smit last week, All Blacks hard man Brad Thorn is braced for a torrid assault from the Wallabies pack on Saturday night though he doubts it will be personal.

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Smit managed to square a bit of history between the two big men with his tackle in Hamilton that floored Thorn.

Last year Thorn upended Smit in the opening test in Wellington, ending the Springboks captain's Tri-Nations campaign and causing an uproar in the process as the South Africans cried foul.

Thorn, who never backs away from a challenge and is happy to receive as much as he delivers, laughed off the big payback hit.

"It was a good moment and I'm sure all of South Africa rejoiced. They haven't been too happy about that situation. It's good that it was John and hopefully they can be at peace now," the tough lock said.

"There have been times in my career when I've done that tackle and also times when I've been hit like that. I certainly appreciated it."

What Thorn didn't appreciate was copping another defeat.

Having lost three in a row against the Springboks, Thorn wants to keep the other side of the ledger clean and complete a hat-trick of Tri-Nations wins against the Wallabies.

But knowing a thing or two about the Aussie psyche he is anticipating a huge challenge from Robbie Deans' side on the back of their win over the Boks in Brisbane, Thorn's old home town from his time with the Broncos league outfit.

"They put a really good performance in against the South Africans there - that was a pretty complete performance. They will be really buoyed and encouraged by that and as Robbie has said, they really want to back that up.

"They will really keen to have a crack and get a win."

In the absence of the injured Ali Williams, the 34-year-old Thorn has been elevated to senior status in the locking department. He's had to carry a big workload, playing every minute of all eight tests in a difficult season.

Isaac Ross has been there with him most of the time but now Thorn gets to lock arms with Tom Donnelly. He doubts he will have to nurse the 27-year-old Otago player along. He reckons emotions will take care of that.

"It's an exciting time for Tom, he's toiled away for a long time at Super 14 level and it's just great to see guys like that get opportunities. He'll be a very proud New Zealander pulling on that All Blacks jersey and I imagine he will go out and give his best effort.

"We're not asking for anything extra from him – just to go out and do what he does well. I'm looking forward to it."

What Donnelly does do well is take lineout ball. Add in the jumping strength of Adam Thomson and the All Blacks find themselves with five good options. It's about maximising those.

"I hope it works to our advantage," said Thorn, not shirking away from the lineout shambles that marred the Hamilton effort.

"Last weekend we had some of those mistakes early on. It wasn't that we didn't have the jumpers it's just that space wasn't there. It's good to have the different options but it's about everyone going through their little jobs to make sure we give ourselves the best chance.

"Sometimes it's pressure, sometimes it's different guys working together, sometimes it's distractions. But human error does happen and I guess the pleasing thing was that we came back in the second half really well. But we can't start like that again."