All Blacks v Wallabies: This time it's personal

There is certainly no love lost between Richie McCaw and Quade Cooper. Photo / Getty Images

To lose to Australia is bad enough for any All Black team. To lose in a Rugby World Cup semifinal is tougher again but no New Zealand team will feel the pain of loss quite like the current team.

Since 2008, a genuine dislike has brewed between the All Blacks and Wallabies. Their emotions go beyond the expected transtasman rivalry - there is a nasty edge to the way they feel about each other and the sly knee to Richie McCaw's head by Quade Cooper the last time they met has hardly improved matters.

Today's semifinal could erupt, although the All Blacks will be striving to replicate the cold, detached professionalism they employed at Eden Park in early August to destroy the Wallabies.

They refused to be distracted that night. They had fire in their blood but it was focused. No one went for the cheap shot and most important, the temptation to gloat was resisted.

It took considerable self control on the part of every All Black to not be in Australian faces pointing out the score and the fact that New Zealand have won 11 of their last 14 encounters against the Wallabies.

The Wallabies hadn't shown that same self-control when they won in Hong Kong in their previous game.

The celebrations when James O'Connor scored a last-second try to tie the game and then the conversion to win it were not restrained. It was a dramatic win - their first after 10 consecutive losses to the All Blacks but still ... The All Blacks were left standing on the field for an age before the Wallabies deigned to shake hands.

"That annoyed me at the time for a number of reasons," All Black captain Richie McCaw said in June this year.

"We let them off the hook. We had the game under control. We didn't come from behind, but we were in control and we blew it.

"But in terms of giving the Wallabies a bit of relief ... that is what frustrated me. We didn't need to let them off the hook. It annoyed me; it made me realise I don't want to see them doing that again. It still annoys me."

What also annoyed him and his team-mates was the way Cooper shoved him over after the try was scored.

There was even less enjoyment taken from the stream of invective that Cooper spewed out as McCaw lay prostrate on the turf.

There was no real surprise, though, that the Australians and Cooper had reacted with such spiteful glee.

The relationship between the two countries had been deteriorating since 2008 and the arrival of Robbie Deans as Wallabies coach. Deans and All Black assistant coach Steve Hansen haven't been on speaking terms for the better part of the last 10 years.

They have managed to keep their dislike of each other largely out of public forums but clearly Deans took over the Wallabies with a siege mentality.

It would be naive not to appreciate how much he was hurt by All Black rejection in December 2007. Even more naive not to believe he's desperate to make New Zealand rugby pay for the choices they have made.

Deans is at the helm of a young side - many of whom obviously feel indebted to him for the faith he has shown and the opportunity he has given them. Possibly just as obviously, they have picked up on the vibe from the top emanating towards the All Blacks.

Last year the All Blacks decided to bring back the tradition of having a drink in the changing room with their opponents. The Australians originally agreed after they lost in Christchurch but no one turned up and a message was sent to say they wouldn't be coming. Deans is believed to have got wind of it and then made it clear to his troops they weren't going anywhere.

It was easy to feel for Deans - to lose a record ninth consecutive test on the very ground he was once a hero must have been tough. Only a few weeks earlier the NZRU had confirmed Mark Hammett as coach of the Hurricanes. The national body had been jolted into action by the Rebels who almost managed to lure Hammett to Melbourne.

It was believed that Hammett would also have taken a role with the Wallabies and the thought of Deans poaching a coach earmarked for big things in this country was enough to get the NZRU into quite a lather.

There is fault on both sides of the Tasman for the tension between the two countries. But the Wallabies have been more at fault - Cooper's vendetta against McCaw was not sparked by some historic atrocity committed by the All Black skipper. The Wallaby first five has perhaps been influenced by the example set at the top of his organisation and felt the need to be overtly anti-All Black.

In the build-up to the Tri Nations game in Auckland this year, such was the confidence, or maybe that should be over-confidence exuding from the Wallaby camp that Hansen ended up not being able to help himself.

"Australians aren't in awe of us; they probably don't even respect us," he fumed. "You only have to read what they have got to say."

There was constant prattle from the Wallabies about how they could beat anyone on their day. There was never any mention of the All Blacks' strengths or of the 25 years since victory was achieved at Eden Park.

That ultra-confidence was also a theme over the summer months where several Wallabies chose to re-sign to stay in Australia and they all talked of their belief they were on the verge of greatness; trophies were on their way.

The sub-text was always apparent - that they fancied they were going to knock the All Blacks off their perch and have a super time doing so.

It's not as if the All Blacks are in need of extra motivation today. A World Cup semifinal on home soil against Australia, whom they have never beaten in tournament play, is surely enough.

Yes, but the last three years have added an entirely bigger dimension. The All Blacks know the Wallabies don't like them - and by 11pm tonight it would be nice if the Australians liked them even less.