Despite a strong second-half performance in Sydney, Joe Schmidt resisted the temptation to field Brandon Paenga-Amosa and Lukhan Salakaia-Loto in the starting 15 and largely stuck to his developing squad ahead of the second Bledisloe Test match in Wellington on Saturday.

Roar understands that Schmidt will be expected to follow in Scott Robertson’s footsteps and make minimal changes, with the Wallabies coach making no changes to his forward line-up in his first year in charge and only a handful of changes to his defence.

Schmidt will announce his team on Thursday at 11:30am Australian Eastern Time.

As revealed on Wednesday, Jake Gordon is set to replace Nic White, while Dylan Pietsch will replace Marika Koroibete, who injured her wrist early in last weekend’s 31-28 loss.

Roar can reveal veteran James Slipper, who last weekend became the Wallabies’ most capped player in history, will miss the Test as Isaac Kailea has been named on the bench. The Waratahs-linked player will help the Wallabies secure another strong running option.

After hooker Paenga-Amosa and lock Salakaia-Loto made a devastating impact for the Wallabies in the second half, it was thought Schmidt would look to strengthen his group. Instead, Schmidt has kept faith in his current players, with the forwards coming off the bench once again.

James Slipper will not feature against the All Blacks in Wellington. (Photo: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Schmidt will no doubt look to his scrum mainstays Angus Bell and Taniela Tupou to pick up the ball, with the duo barely visible in the first half.

The Wallabies paid the price for their failed plunge in Sydney.

The Wallabies were inaccurate from the first whistle, failing to get the ball from the opening kick before Noah Lolesio lost his first touch, forcing Tom Wright to kick the ball downfield.

A chaotic start led to chaos in the first 15 minutes as their defence collapsed and they conceded three early goals.

Although the Wallabies managed to quickly make up ground in the final 20 minutes, with Langi Gleeson adding to the power play from Paenga-Amos and Salakai-Loto, the gap ultimately proved too great to overcome.

Despite a valiant effort, the Wallabies were not content with closing in on the finish line and taking second place.

“A week in rugby is a long time so we hope we can turn that around,” Salakaia-Loto said earlier this week.

“Under Joe, we were very process-oriented. It’s always about the next moment and the moment that’s in front of you.

“So we’re very focused on getting through today, Tuesday is a big day for us, a big day of work. So we’re just checking off those boxes and getting into those building blocks so we can perform on Saturday.

“Of course we weren’t happy with the result at the weekend and we want to get a result this weekend. But we understand that it’s a process and we have to take it day by day and sharpen the axe.”

Lukhan Salakaia-Loto will feature again against the All Blacks despite his strong second-half performance in Sydney. (Photo: Matt King/Getty Images)

The Wallabies were reluctant to provide the All Blacks with any further convincing, as New Zealand have been critical of a slower-than-expected start to the season under Robertson.

“It’s always difficult to play away from home,” Salakaia-Loto said.

“Our record probably speaks for itself, it wasn’t great here, but that doesn’t mean it can’t change. We understand that.

“The All Blacks are confident at home and they get their energy from the fans. I don’t know if you want to get into that but the pitch is still the same size, 15 men against 15 men, 80 minutes, we’ve got to be good enough to take those chances, as I said, and we’ve got to be good enough if we want to win.”