KEY POINTS:
Like victims of a heinous attack, the All Blacks were first mugged and then strangled when collapsing to defeat at each of the last two Rugby World Cups, says veteran hooker Anton Oliver.
The semifinal loss to France at Twickenham in 1999 was vastly different from their exit at the same stage against Australia four years later in Sydney, Oliver believed, but lessons could be learned from both.
Oliver said mental strength was the key to the knockout phase of the sixth World Cup, starting with the quarter-final against France in Cardiff on Sunday morning.
"I've described 2003 as like a slow strangulation by the Australians," Oliver said. "But I think'99 was a mugging. We got mugged.
"It just went so quickly. Once the wheels fell off, we couldn't regain our composure and we were completely lost."
Up 24-10 early in the second half after winger Jonah Lomu charged over for his second try, New Zealand fell apart as France surged to a famous 43-31 win.
However, Oliver dispelled the popular assessment that the All Blacks had been in control leading up to France's magical final half-hour.
"We got outpassioned, they played with more physicality than us and Jonah, with two or three bits that only Jonah can do, kept us in the game," Oliver said.
"It always felt to me that we were hanging in there, even though on the scoreboard it wasn't representative of what I was feeling.
"They were more on the edge than we were."
Likewise, Oliver was keen to put right a misconception from the painful 10-22 defeat at Sydney in 2003.
He wasn't selected for that tournament but recognised from afar and from talking to the players involved what the problem was.
"Definitely in'99 we were a bit complacent, we thought we were going to do things that we didn't," Oliver said.
"I think the same could be said of the 2003 side ... and there's a difference between that and saying that you're chokers."
Oliver said coach Graham Henry was too meticulous to allow the players to switch off this week, or for the remainder of the cup.
"If we get beaten at this tournament, it'll be by a better team for 80 minutes.
"It won't be because we weren't expecting it, it'll just be that they were straight-out better than us.
"You can wear that, that's what happens in sport."
English journalists were yesterday seeking answers to questions about mental scarring from Oliver and Byron Kelleher - the only surviving players from the Twickenham massacre.
Oliver, who headed off Keven Mealamu for the starting berth this week, obliged with a typically thought-out response.
"If I'm still grieving over that, then I need to see some professional psychiatric help," he said.
"You can't just block out the bad stuff, [or] you have to block out the good stuff as well.
"We don't talk about good victories we've had against the French because you can't be selective like that, that's just the past."
Former captain Oliver is one of the few All Blacks to admit that their four easy wins in pool play could be a problem, describing it as a negative.
Making up for it with physical training was difficult to achieve without "bashing a teammate".
However, Oliver said there were few other concerns as the All Blacks sought to step up a level this week-end.
"I feel that if this team plays to its potential and really delivers, then it's going to take a really good team to beat us," he said.
"That's just having a belief in your teammates and yourself and in the environment that the coaches have created.
"We've had two or three years to create this thing that we've got now."
- NZPA
