New Zealand captain Richie McCaw believes his team are under no more pressure than usual heading into their Tri-Nations clash with Australia.

After starting the season with a whimper against France three months ago, the All Blacks have continued to struggle - losing the Tri-Nations crown they have held since 2005, to South Africa after last weekend's defeat in Hamilton.

They have twice beaten Australian this year and retained the Bledisloe Cup but could end their campaign as Tri-Nations wooden-spooners if they fail against the Wallabies in Wellington tomorrow.

McCaw, however, is keeping his cool.

"Any time you play in the All Blacks there is some (pressure) there, and it's a question of how you deal with it," he said.

"You can't allow that to get on top of you. You've got to keep the belief in what you're doing.

"Obviously after a result like we had last week, the guys are pretty eager to get back out on the field and put it right."

The signs, he reports, are good.

"The guys are pretty proud sort of men and they want to go out and put a good performance together for their mates beside them first and foremost," added McCaw.

"If you do that right for your mates and yourselves you end up doing it right for everyone else - the coaches, the fans and everyone."

New Zealand have been plagued by slow starts all year.

A faltering line-out has seen the ball turned over frequently. Ill-discipline has also been costly at times, as has some poor tactical kicking.

Yet they have managed to grind out tight wins against Australia, and came back hard if ultimately in vain against South African last week.

"The last 20 minutes last week was okay," McCaw recalled.

"We played some reasonable rugby. But we've got to make sure we can do that right from the word go.

"What's happened in the past doesn't count for too much. We've got a plan in place of how we want to play this week and we're pretty keen to make sure we do it right from the word go - and we don't give them a 10-point start or 12-point start, or whatever it was last week.

"The big thing that we know is we've got a bunch of guys who will keep going until the end - and we realise to win Tests you've got to do that."

The All Blacks will take some confidence from the fact Australia have not won on New Zealand soil since 2001.

"I guess you always believe that what you're going to put out on the field, if you can execute it, you'll be good enough to win - and I'm sure they will be exactly the same," said the All Blacks captain.

"When you get behind on the scoreboard or things don't go your way, guys don't give up and they still fight right to the last minute.

"It's pleasing to know you've got a bunch of characters who will do that.

"It would be nice to go into the final 20 minutes and be up some points rather than down. That's going to be the aim tomorrow."