Hansen full of reassurances over All Black McCaw's foot

Richie McCaw of the All Blacks. Photo / Getty Images

Soothsayer Steve Hansen sidled into the room.

Forget the questions, the chipper assistant All Black coach was on the front foot about skipper Richie McCaw's damaged right peg.

There were only two things he couldn't tell us - the All Black side for Sunday's semifinal against the Wallabies and the result.

A glass of water gargle and Hansen was away, he was "right on top of it" as he told an inquirer.

"I can guess what the first question is so I'm going to answer it for you.

"Richie McCaw's foot is fine, Matt Todd is training with us as you all know and have written about. Matt Todd is part of our wider training group and trained with us in Christchurch as did other players down there. Matt Todd is in Auckland and it just made common sense to have him here.

"That doesn't mean to say Richie's foot is worse than it was, it doesn't mean Richie's not playing on [Sunday] it just means Matt Todd was in Auckland and we wanted to use him for training as opposition.

"So hopefully that puts that away and we can talk about the game."

Hansen was sick of reading about the issue, which seemed to contradict his usual statements about never looking at the newspapers.

He was not worried what other sides thought of the All Blacks' additional players tactic. They had used that concept throughout the World Cup, Hansen said, they were not contravening the rules and it was an advantage the All Blacks had from being based at home.

Todd would continue to train with the side while McCaw would be on a minimal training schedule until tomorrow's captain's run.

The staff were unconcerned about that restricted routine as McCaw had shown his effectiveness against Argentina after limited preparation.

He had dealt with the pressure as had Wallaby five-eighths Quade Cooper who had absorbed a fair amount of unwanted attention like the "good Kiwi boy" he was.

Sunday was all about do rather than die for the All Blacks, Hansen said. It was a massive game, he said, and the winner got to shoot for the World Cup crown.

"The preparation has got to be dead-set genuine and you have got to take yourself to the right places mentally and you have got to make sure you have got your game plan, clarity, right.

"Once you have got clarity, then you can have intensity and a purpose about what you do and that gives you accuracy as well. If we can get those things tidied up then we get on the track on Sunday night and it's going to be on."

"We have a pretty simple game plan and we like to keep it as simple as possible so it is not too hard to learn it," said Hansen.

"It is just a matter of understanding it and as we've said when DC [Carter] got injured, the guys around [Aaron] Cruden and [Colin] Slade have to stand up and do a bit extra. It is not Aaron Cruden who has to do the extra bits and it is the same this week.

"Your top players in the big games have to play as top players, you can't afford for them not to be world-class and that is what it will be like on Sunday."

Everyone felt pressure, it was how you reacted to it that was the key and the All Blacks were excited by that challenge.

"As long as you can walk towards the pressure then you are in control of it, it is not in control of you and we have a group of players who are really excited about what's coming up," Hansen said.