But the 6ft 5in prop believes the pressure is well and truly on Ireland to back up their gutsy performance of last weekend when they pushed New Zealand all the way before falling 21-11 in freezing conditions in Wellington.

Buckley, who came on as a replacement for Marcus Horan in the 61st minute, admitted he and his team-mates were "gutted" after throwing away a golden opportunity to beat New Zealand.

"We came within 10 points of a New Zealand team that we could have beaten," the 27-year-old said. "We came so close. There were a few minor errors that cost us big time.

"We should have been much closer. I felt we were unlucky on the night. We will be looking at capitalising on those situations against Australia. Everybody will be looking to fix their mistakes... to build on what they did last weekend."

Buckley revealed his team had now set a goal to make up for the loss and were keen to atone against the Australians under the roof at Telstra Dome in Melbourne on Saturday.

"Against Australia we really have to win, we'll be more hungry for the victory," he said.

"It's their first game together under a new coaching staff and hopefully we can get them this time."

Buckley insisted there was no lack of motivation to defeat Australia, particularly as they have not beaten the Wallabies on their home soil since 1979.

"It's even bigger (than New Zealand)," he said. "We just want to come away from the tour with a win. We were confident of pushing New Zealand. The ball was in our court, we could have - and should have - won it but we didn't. Hopefully against Australia now we can win it."

Ireland's Munster-dominated pack - still fresh from their European Cup victory over Toulouse - struggled at times against the All Blacks but Buckley indicated it was in defence and around the set-piece plays where the team would need to step up against the Wallabies.

"We'll need to tighten up a little. There was one or two little breaches but on a normal day that wouldn't have happened. We were very good in and around the ruck, drove the All Blacks back a bit. We were quite strong in that area," he said.

One man who knows more than most about the Munster players is former forwards coach Jim Williams, who jetted out straight after the victory celebrations to join the Wallabies as an assistant coach.

But he played down the fact his in-depth knowledge of certain players would be an advantage for the home side.

"It'll only go so far," he said. "It's going to be one of those things about getting the basics right and making sure you can win your set-pieces and making sure you get over your advantage line.

"It's all going to come down to that. Realistically (working at Munster is) not going to count for too much."