Kahui robbed of Mortlock challenge

All Blacks centre Richard Kahui is still buzzing ahead of his Tri Nations debut on Saturday but admits he is disappointed not to be lining up opposite Australian captain Stirling Mortlock.

Kahui was named for New Zealand's eagerly awaited Bledisloe Cup clash against Australia in Sydney and for a few hours at least was relishing the chance to lock horns with Mortlock.

The 23-year-old one-Test All Black is full of admiration for Mortlock and had been looking forward to a midfield battle, but the Wallabies skipper has been ruled out of the trans-Tasman showdown after failing to recover from a head injury suffered against South Africa.

"He was the best centre when I was coming through and was someone I always looked up to and I tried to model a little bit of my game around the way he plays," Kahui said.

"It was a bit of a fairytale really, starting in my first Tri Nations match against Australia - a team when you are growing up you always looked up to and wanted to play.

"So for him not to be there is a bit disappointing but it's not going to dampen my excitement for the game."

Saturday's match at ANZ Stadium will be Kahui's second Test after impressing all and sundry on debut against England last month.

Prior to that match in Christchurch, the Waikato and Chiefs midfielder admitted to being nervous.

This time round, he's definitely feeling more relaxed.

"It's not cocky or confident," he added. "I think it's just that I've got the first one out of the way, which was a really nervy week for me, and now I've replaced nervousness with excitement. I'm really excited about the opportunity."

Kahui will start in place of Conrad Smith, who has not put a foot wrong in the matches he has played in so far this year.

All Blacks assistant coach Wayne Smith made it clear when the team was named on Tuesday that Smith's relegation to the bench had nothing to do with form and said on Thursday that even if the All Blacks coaches had known Mortlock was not going to be selected it would not have altered their decision to start with Kahui.

Mortlock proved in the 16-9 win against South Africa, before leaving the field concussed, that his ball-running skills, defence and strength in the tackle make him arguably the best number 13 in the world.

His absence does rob the Wallabies of a wealth of experience but Smith believes his replacement, Western Force centre Ryan Cross, has many of the same skills as the 67-Test veteran.

Kahui is certainly not expecting an easier time of it against league convert Cross.

Cross has scored two tries in three appearances off the bench so far - against France twice and South Africa- and dotted down twice in the second Test against France.

"I'm certainly not going to under-estimate how good he is," said Kahui. "I played against him in the [Chiefs' Super 14 match against the] Force and he went alright.

"He's pretty handy. He's got all the skills and plenty of pace. He's actually a pretty big man so I'm still going to have my hands full."