The Wallabies believe it is their birthright to defeat the greatest rugby team in the world. On any given day, writes MATT WILLIAMS

LET’S STATE some facts: New Zealand are the best team on the planet while Australia remain a work in progress.

This is a massive game at any time but this is the biggest one ever. It is a World Cup semi-final on home soil and from the Prime Minister down the New Zealand public are behind their boys. Eden Park is their spiritual home. The Wallabies have only won there twice – the last time in 1986.

Craig Joubert as referee worries Australians. His last four Bledisloe Cup matches have ended in defeat for them.

Got all that?

Now, let me tell you why Australia can win.

They have been sitting in their hotel all week believing with every fibre of their collective being that they will beat New Zealand. They are the stewards of a legacy that has been passed down through the generations. They know these opponents are mere flesh and bone.

It is, they believe, an Australian birthright to defeat the greatest rugby team in the world. On any given day.

This week the Wallabies have held a number of press conferences. They were laughing, joking and laid back. Of course, they are feeling the strain but the message is clear: the pressure is primarily on New Zealand.

Even after losing nine consecutive Tests to New Zealand, they still believed they could win the next one. Eventually, they did – winning two of the last three.

This mentality might be difficult for Irish people to comprehend.

New Zealand places their rugby team at the pinnacle of their society. They expect the world to have them on a pedestal as well. Two nations in particular refuse to let this mentality seep into their psyche.

The French, because the French don’t believe anyone is better than them at anything, and the Australians.

It is a local thing. Sydney is the second biggest New Zealand city. Kiwis are lovely people but they are not super human.

Sadly in Ireland, we still place them on that pedestal and instead of referring to them as the New Zealand rugby team we buy into the mythology by referring to them by their registered trademark. A title they are so insecure about that it is stitched into their jerseys below the silver fern.

There will be sledging tomorrow. This is talking to the opposition. It harks back to the old days. Sledging during the haka was legendary. Once as Ka Mate was being performed a gold jersey called out: “Stop beating yourself up – just face it. You are losers!”

This, of course, inflamed the Kiwis so much there is now a 20-metre exclusion zone around the haka.

The Aussies say it is because the Kiwis can’t handle confrontation!

This is like Ireland playing England with the gloves off. No Old World nicety here. Head butting is encouraged.

Where will the game be won? The Wallaby lineout didn’t function against South Africa. If Australia give New Zealand that amount of ammunition, they will lose by 40 points.

The defence last week against the Springboks was incredible. John Solomon, the oldest living Australian captain, said it was the greatest ever display of tackling he had witnessed.

David Pocock is the rock the defence is build upon. He has shaded Richie McCaw in their last three meetings.

McCaw is an all-time great but Pocock can dethrone him and become the king of number sevens tomorrow morning.

McCaw embodies his team and he has been immense. He literally has a screw in his ankle that is loose. Brave beyond words, but he is hurting.

Here’s another fact: Australia have beaten New Zealand in the 1991 (at Lansdowne Road) and 2003 World Cup semi-finals. On both occasions New Zealand had been playing some scintillating rugby en route to the last four while the Wallabies had been scratchy.

The Kiwis, on both those occasions, had brilliant number tens in Grant Fox and Carlos Spencer.

Australia will get to Aaron Cruden. They will hurt him physically and climb inside his brain with a constant barrage of sledging. What that boy, and he is still a boy, will endure over the 80 minutes does not bear thinking about. The weight of a nation rests upon his shoulders and the boot of Piri Weepu.

What of Quade Cooper? The Wallaby first five eighth has become a liability. He doesn’t appear to possess the essential BMT (big match temperament). He will most likely choke; he is a Kiwi after all.

The main threat is not Cooper. New Zealand must counter Will Genia by coming off their defensive line and attacking him. In recent matches, Genia has targeted Keven Mealamu and Sam Whitelock.

If they let him slip past just once, they will be under their own posts in no time. Just see the Tri-Nations or Super 15 final.

New Zealand arrive at their definitive World Cup game without being tested. Argentina were brave and France defended like schoolboys.

It makes scoring in the first 20 minutes particularly crucial. The more it stays a tight contest the more the pressure will be heaped upon the hosts. Do not doubt that all human beings have breaking points.

And this pressure would crush most people and most teams.

Australians know the Kiwis are merely flesh and bone. Flesh rips, bone shatters.