The All Blacks depart for Japan this morning where they will attempt to retain the world cup for the third time in-a-row
After four years of preparation and a potentially high-risk final match against Tonga which gave them exactly what they wanted – a high-intensity 80-minute run with no injuries – the All Blacks are on the brink of flying to Japan and once again attempting to make history.
The 92-7 victory over Tonga at Waikato Stadium in front of 24,000 relatively relaxed supporters on Saturday afternoon will bear very little resemblance to what they will face against the Springboks at Yokohama's International Stadium on September 21.
But they would have been poorer without it and the empty casualty ward – other than Brodie Retallick – means Steve Hansen will board the plane tomorrow morning for his fifth World Cup tournament with his confidence about as high as it could be as his players appear supremely fit and one or two of them, most notably Ardie Savea and George Bridge, appear in very good form.
"We'd have liked it to have been a little tougher but at the end of the day we organised a game so we could get some time as a unit in a match-like situation and we got all that and I thought the boys played particularly well," Hansen said a day after the 14-tries-to-one rout in Hamilton.
"They were sharp, they were clear in what they were trying to do. Some of the structures we've been working on they did well.
"We now get on the plane and we can focus on what is going to be a mighty first game."
As for facing the Boks first up in what is likely to be the toughest pool game the All Blacks have ever faced, Hansen likes it. "It allows us to then work our way through the tournament and try to peak for that quarter-final."
Hansen knows more than most that there are no guarantees at World Cups, or in sport in general. After taking Wales to Australia in 2003, he was an All Blacks assistant in 2007 and 2011 and was the head coach four years ago.
All four of those tournaments have allowed him to experience the full spectrum of emotions and this one in Japan will be his last assignment as an All Blacks coach. He knows, too, that his wealth of experience will count for little if it's not used properly, and, again, that a key aspect to success will be enjoying every moment, just as the All Blacks did in the United Kingdom last time out.
All Black Ardie Savea is congratulated by Sevu Reece after scoring a try against Tonga. Photo / Dean Purcell
Asked what he had learned from attending so many World Cups, he said: "That they're different. They're different to test matches. And you have to pace yourself. You don't win the tournament in the first round. And then once you get to the knockout stage you have to earn the right to come back to training on Monday. You can't take anything for granted.
"It's really open [this time]. There will be five or six teams who will think deep down they can really win it. In previous World Cups there have probably been two or three who honestly think they can. The interesting thing will be that things will happen that we won't expect will happen.
"It's how we deal with those things that will be really important. Every team will get the same amount of luck and every team will get the same amount of bad luck. It's what you do in that moment that you get it and how you deal with it, both positively and negatively, that will make the difference.
"We went with the mindset to the last one that we wanted to go there and play well and try to win the thing but we also wanted to enjoy the whole experience and the culture of the UK, England, and we're going to go with the same mindset to this one.
"It's a massive opportunity to do something that hasn't been done before but we also want to enjoy every moment of it. It's the pinnacle of your career… not many people get the opportunity to do it. It would be foolish not to try to enjoy it, it wouldn't be right.
"In enjoying it that means making sure you take in the culture you're surrounded by because it's a pretty special place, Japan."
Beauden Barrett, preparing to play his second World Cup and first with brothers Scott and Jordie, said the excitement among the squad was building.
"It's very special," he said. "It's one thing to play a test with two of my brothers but it's another going to a World Cup and having this wonderful challenge in front of us."
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