A trio of former All Blacks stars have bemoaned a lack of intensity from Australia's Super Rugby sides following their 0-5 start to the inaugural trans-Tasman competition last weekend.
The Rebels, Reds and Waratahs were all hammered by their Kiwi opponents in round one while the Force and Brumbies only lost because of missed conversions on fulltime.
But the winless weekend has triggered fears of another lopsided competition and recalled memories of a horror 40 match losing streak for Australian teams against New Zealand rivals that was snapped in 2018.
Queensland's 40-19 loss to the Highlanders was particularly galling given it pitted Australia's champions against the fourth ranked Kiwi team.
2011 Rugby World Cup winner Israel Dagg questioned the selections of his former All Blacks teammate Brad Thorn, now coach of the Reds.
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"Looking at the team list, they were missing some absolute firepower at the weekend," Dagg told Stan Sport's Rugby Heaven.
"I don't know why they didn't start Taniela Tupou and then (Suliasi) Vunivalu came on and scored two tries, he was absolutely amazing."
Thorn also started key forwards Fraser McReight and Lukhan Salakaia-Loto on his bench against the Highlanders.
"I thought they were going to be a lot better when they played the Landers last week," Dagg said.
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"I think they were just a little bit flat, defensively they were pretty poor – I think they missed 26 tackles at 80 per cent tackle success so that's just an attitude shift for me."
The format of the competition means that round two is almost entering do or die territory already for the Australian teams.
The five Aussie and Kiwi sides play each other once before the top two overall (regardless of country) square off in the June 19 final.
The feature game this weekend is Saturday's clash between the Reds and the Aotearoa champion Crusaders at Suncorp Stadium.
"This week at home, in front of 35,000 people, the Queensland community absolutely love them and they'll be a completely different beast this week up against the Crusaders," Dagg said.
"It's not hard to get up when you're playing against the other championship sides like the Crusaders… It is a sprint, it's not a long race here, you've got to start well…
"That first 20-30 minutes is crucial for Australian sides to put pressure on these Kiwi sides. Hopefully we can get a few results otherwise she'll be a long wait for Aussie fans."
On Sky Sport NZ's The Breakdown, 100 Test All Black Mils Muliaina bemoaned the week one contribution from the Australian teams.
"I was a bit disappointed with the intensity really, I thought the Australians might have brought a bit more," Muliaina said.
"I know there was obviously two close games but having watched the Australians and got a gauge for where they were – this was our first opportunity to really get that – and I was a bit disappointed with the intensity that they actually brought to the games."
Fellow panelist and All Blacks great John Kirwan said a competitive trans-Tasman tournament was crucial for the health of the game in both countries.
"They're (Australia) playing a different style of football which I reckon is the future of their game," Kirwan said.
"It reminds me of ladies where they play a little bit more of a fluid game. So I'm hoping that the intensity of the first week and this week will see a step up in that intensity.
"That's hopefully what will happen because if it doesn't… we need the Australian sides to be strong and we need their national side to be strong and they do need to start playing a different style of footy."
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