Muliaina expects tight finish

New Zealand's Mils Muliaina says he believes this year's Tri-Nations will be the closest ever after their defeat by South Africa.

The All Blacks and Springboks now have a win apiece following the first two matches of the series with Australia kicking off their campaign next weekend against the world champions.

New Zealand have been victories in the tournament for the past three years but South Africa's first win on New Zealand soil for a decade suggests it is going to be a lot closer this year.

Australia, who are seen as the outsiders by many, are also expected to be far more competitive under new Kiwi coach Robbie Deans.

"It's going to be hard to win," said full-back Muliaina. "You've seen over the last couple of weeks there's been two tight games and we've yet to see what the Aussies have got.

"We're going to go away and hurt for a week or so and watch that game and hopefully we can rectify some of the things that we didn't do too well.

"It's going to be a lot tighter Tri-Nations than it perhaps has been in the last few years."