Australian great John Eales hasn't restricted his attack on the All Blacks to coach Graham Henry - he's also hit out at the team themselves, claiming they have lost their aura of invincibility and they are vulnerable this weekend.
In a widely reported interview with print media in the buildup to Saturday night's Bledisloe Cup clash in Sydney, Eales expressed real surprise at New Zealand's decision to reappoint Henry after last year's World Cup failure.
He felt the All Blacks had missed an opportunity to start fresh in the next four year cycle, something that had hindered previous Wallabies campaigns when they had retained losing cup coaches.
And in a separate TV interview Eales, who won two World Cups with the Wallabies and is a hall of famer in Australian rugby, said the All Blacks had already gone backwards from last year with so many top players defecting overseas.
"They have slipped a bit from last year. They haven't got that same aura of invincibility about them," said Eales who was a persistent thorn in the side of the All Blacks as a player and is now getting stuck in with his respected views.
"And when you take a guy like Richie McCaw out, they lose a little bit more."
Eales thoughts on the All Blacks echo those of another Wallabies great Tim Horan who came out strongly last weekend and also claimed the All Blacks' aura was rapidly disappearing.
The All Blacks arrived in Sydney on Thursday night and brushed off Eales' attack which comes on the back of the All Blacks losing to the Springboks in Dunedin and then seeing the Wallabies beat the world champions a week later in Perth to spice up the Tri-Nations.
At Sydney airport All Blacks fullback Mils Muliaina said he "didn't read too much into that sort of stuff".
And star first five Dan Carter added: "We go out to win every game and you can't win them all. So we don't really worry about things like that. We're just concentrating on this weekend and we've come over here for a win."
But the attacks keep coming as some real belief appears to be returning into Australian test rugby after four years of lean results under Eddie Jones and John Connolly.
It's early days in the Robbie Deans era but the Aussies clearly believe they are on to a winner - at New Zealand's expense of course.
Outspoken former Wallabies prop and rugby commentator Chris Handy joined the chorus, too, telling the same TV station: "There's always someone you ring and brag to when the Wallabies beat them. Ring them now and prepare them now for the Wallabies of 2008. They're coming to get them."
Handy was involved in the Wallabies' stunning 30-16 upset of the All Blacks at Eden Park in 1978. He clearly smells something similar brewing in Sydney.
