James Slipper will get his chance to surpass George Gregan and become Australia's most-capped player after being named as a replacement loose-head prop for his 140th test.
The Wallabies go into the match with their rivals at Stadium Australia as heavy underdogs on the back of a record 67-27 mauling at the hands of Argentina in Santa Fe two weeks ago.
"Hopefully we've built a little bit of confidence back but you can't build confidence on porous foundations," Schmidt told reporters on Thursday.
"I think we have to get a bit of a dose of reality first... so there was a little bit of reality at the start and then hopefully we get a bit of an upswing towards the end of the week and obviously on Saturday."
Noah Lolesio returns at fly-half in partnership with recalled scrum-half Nic White, Tom Wright is back at full-back and Hunter Paisami will bring his powerful running back to the centres after recovering from a knee injury.
"Hunter is a really punchy player for us," said Schmidt. "Hunter's got good experience with Len Ikitau. So those two together, with Nic and Noah having combinations, does help with cohesion."
Australia last held the Bledisloe Cup in 2002 and, after the Santa Fe pummelling, expectations are low that the Wallabies can wrest back the symbol of trans-Tasman Sea supremacy by beating the All Blacks on Saturday and again in Wellington next week.
"It's a huge, huge motivator for us," said Lolesio.
"Obviously, it's been 22 years or something like that... We really want to put in the best result we can this Saturday."
Team: 15-Tom Wright, 14-Andrew Kellaway, 13-Len Ikitau, 12-Hunter Paisami, 11-Marika Koroibete, 10-Noah Lolesio, 9-Nic White, 8-Harry Wilson, 7-Fraser McReight, 6-Rob Valetini, 5-Jeremy Williams, 4-Nick Frost, 3-Taniela Tupou, 2-Matt Faessler, 1-Angus Bell
Replacements: 16-Brandon Paenga-Amosa, 17-James Slipper, 18-Allan Alaalatoa, 19-Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 20-Langi Gleeson, 21-Tate McDermott, 22-Tom Lynagh, 23-Dylan Pietsch.
