KEY POINTS:
A disgruntlement with his goal-kicking accuracy led Nick Evans to All Black skills coach Mick Byrne after this year's Super 14.
Mick the Kick as he's known, took one look at the Evans technique and deduced there was an issue with the way the soon-to-be Blues player was
approaching the ball.
That led to a swing modification for Evans - and similar to those golfers such as Nick Faldo who opted to rebuild their technique, there have been tough times along the way.
But Evans has emerged through the turbulence to post a success rate of 90 per cent at this World Cup, which puts him pretty near the top of the list in terms of accuracy at this tournament.
"After the Super 14 my goal-kicking wasn't really up to the standard that I wanted it to be so I went to our kicking coach Mick Byrne and we worked on a new run-up.
"We have been working pretty hard at that, it has taken a bit of a while, it has taken some poor sessions and some good ones and I think as long as I keep working it is one string to the bow that I want to keep tight.
"It was a run-up issue where I was coming at the ball from a wrong angle. That wasn't helping. The change has helped me strike the ball a little better. If I'm honest I have probably taken a bit of distance away and improved a bit more on accuracy."
The man who is top of the accuracy list is Scotland's Chris Paterson, who hasn't yet missed a kick. And Paterson and Evans have similarities beyond being skinny white blokes who can never get a game at first-five, for the Scot, too, has knocked on Byrne's door for help.
Before joining the All Blacks in 2005, Byrne was Scotland's skills coach where he transformed Paterson from an occasional and erratic place kicker into, statistically, the best in the world.
At the core of Byrne's success has been his ability to refocus goal-kickers away from the outcome onto the process of getting the ball between the sticks.
"It is a matter of being not only physically right but mentally right, too," says Byrne. "The guys are now focused on principles, on what they should be doing, focusing on aligning themselves with the ball when they approach so when they go goal-kicking it is not an outcome-focused session it is a process-focused session."
So when the pressure inevitably comes on this weekend, in what will possibly be a tight game where goal-kicking might decide the outcome, Byrne is confident the All Blacks have the kickers to stand the pressure.
"If you get your approach right, your contact right and your follow-through right, the goal takes care of itself," he said. "It is a matter of being able to repeat the process on a regular basis. A fair percentage of that is mental. Once you have practiced the process it's a matter of being able to recall it. Fatigued and under pressure, these things can affect your rhythm so it is a matter of getting it physically right and having a strong mental attitude."
The statistics support the players' conviction that Byrne is a critical member of the extended All Black coaching group.
Evans has been the biggest improver, but Daniel Carter has nudged his career average up to 81 per cent since 2005, and while only at a 65 per cent success rate during the World Cup, he's proven himself to be the man for the big occasion.
In the critical Bledisloe test this year Carter nailed seven from eight on a horrid night.
Put the pressure on Carter and his focus is unwavering.
That ability to strike the ball sweetly when it matters is what separates the best goal-kickers from the rest.
Paterson is the only recognised kicker left in the tournament with a better career average than Carter and come the end of this tournament, Mick the Kick's input might have made a critical difference.
As Evans says of Byrne: "He just knows his stuff. He's really easy to understand. He's had a lot to do with kicking from Aussie Rules.
"There are a few fundamentals he knows really well and he gives you a few techniques to work on."
