All Blacks hit and hope against aggrieved Wallabies in Auckland

SYDNEY : The tightest Rugby Championship for many years goes down to the wire at the weekend and, for once, the All Blacks do not have full control of the destination of the title as they head into their final clash against the Wallabies.

New Zealand already have the Bledisloe Cup in the bag for a 20th straight year after their 39-37 victory over Australia in Melbourne but anything that close an Auckland on Saturday would ill-serve their bid for a 19th southern hemisphere crown.

Equal on points with South Africa, who play Argentina in Durban nine hours later, the All Blacks need to secure a bonus point win and blow out their +13 points differential advantage over the Springboks as far as possible.

Such calculations dismiss the title ambitions of Australia and Argentina, of course, and it would perhaps be unwise to rule out the extraordinary set of results required for those to enter the equation after a rollercoaster ride of a championship.

The All Blacks have won four and lost four matches so far this year and, title or no title, coach Ian Foster will be desperate for a performance that shows his team is on the right track for next year's World Cup.

"There's some parts we can't control, as there's a game after us, but there's a massive part that we can control," he said on Thursday.

"We can control the quality of our performance. And we know from last week we're playing against a team that we have massive respect for, and pushed us to the wire."

The All Blacks will take the field without captain Sam Cane, who was concussed in Melbourne, but do have Ardie Savea, probably their best player this season, back at number eight after he sat out the Australia trip.

Although two losses to Ireland and another to the Pumas this year