All Blacks still have to deal with Will Genia

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The judicial process eradicated the threat posed by Quade Cooper for Saturday's opening Bledisloe Cup rugby test but the All Blacks still have to contend with his regular partner.

While Cooper's unsuccessful appeal to overturn a two-match suspension for a dangerous tackle denied the Tokoroa-born pivot a test place against the All Blacks, another of Australian coach Robbie Deans' imports shapes as a major threat to New Zealand maintaining an unbeaten start to the Tri-Nations.

While Cooper and Will Genia cannot showcase the close understanding they developed for the Reds in this year's Super 14 at Etihad Stadium the halfback's influence could be significant nonetheless.

All Blacks first five-eighth Dan Carter - part of a Crusaders side flummoxed by the Genia-Cooper axis at Brisbane in February - identified the 22-year-old Papua New Guinean as the prime danger in a backline already featuring the playmaking abilities of Matt Giteau and Cooper's replacement Berrick Barnes.

Genia started his Bledisloe Cup career last year on the reserves bench behind Luke Burgess but since then he has developed into one of international rugby's most astute and elusive halfbacks.

"He's a fantastic footballer and if anything he's just kept improving from those opportunities he got last year," Carter said.

"He's the guy who gets them going forward and he's extremely dangerous around the rucks with those sniping runs so he's definitely a guy that we are really looking to shut down.

"We feel if we do that it will stop a lot of their game but it's not easy because he does read the game very well."

While those well-publicised All Blacks gameplans supposedly focused on exploiting the defensive frailties of Giteau and James O'Connor, Genia's name was probably in caps on the team room's whiteboard.

In Carter's eyes Genia warrants more attention than say a Ricky Januarie or Ruan Pienaar.

"He is playing with real confidence and the type of player he is, there are a few things you need to talk about so at least guys are aware of it and are able to shut down his time and space," Carter said.

Yet they still had to guard against overkill given the tried and true nature of the Giteau and Barnes combination.

"You can't go piling four or five guys just to watch him (Genia) specifically," Carter warned.

"They've got a lot of other quality footballers around the paddock as well. It's a matter of having confidence in our defensive system to be able to cater for anything they throw at us."

Carter conceded that task might be more straight forward in Cooper's absence.

"He's always a real threat, especially with ball in hand. Quade can create something from nothing, you don't really know what he's going to do."

Giteau also had an unpredictable streak although after playing 17 tests against the All Blacks since 2003, his mystique had diminished.

"He's still very dangerous but in saying that, we've played against him a lot more so we know what he does and what he likes to do," Carter said.

The Brumbies first five-eighth's reputation is also sullied by his heavy involvement in the Wallabies' current seven-match losing streak against their trans-Tasman rivals - not that Carter read any significance into the All Blacks' purple patch.

"We've been very successful against the Wallabies over the last couple of years but they are still a huge threat to us," he said.

"We realise what they can produce is very dangerous and I'm sure they will be wanting to put one up on us because of the success we've had."

Carter drew a parallel with the All Blacks' experience against South Africa last year.

"I know what it was like for us to lose three games on the trot and not being able to beat them and I'm sure Australia will be thinking exactly that against us."

Both teams resumed training today as concerns over the pitch conditions at the match venue finally abated.

All Blacks head coach Graham Henry said the turf looked fine after the team carried out an inspection while South African referee Craig Joubert also gave it a pass mark following his visit to the match venue.

- NZPA