Rugby World Cup 2015: All Blacks focus on 'do or die footy'

It's quarter-final week and the mood has changed in the All Blacks' camp ahead of what is potentially their last game of the World Cup.

The excitement among the team has been there since they stepped off the plane at Heathrow and into the Tower of London for their official welcome four weeks ago, but there is another edge to things now, a frisson probably added to by their second-half performance against Tonga at Newcastle, which put the icing on top of a 47-9 victory.

They have settled into their Swansea base - they will move to Cardiff later in the week for Sunday's quarter-final at Millennium Stadium - and are ready for what first-five Colin Slade described as "do or die footy".

"We're really excited about that but there is that wee change [in focus]," Slade said.

Veteran hooker Keven Mealamu said: "I'm genuinely really excited by this week and making sure we do each day really well. I'm not in control of the result [yet] but I'm in control of making sure I prepare well and making sure everyone else does."

The lessons learned at Millennium Stadium eight years ago - when the All Blacks were knocked out by France - have been learned, the All Blacks say. Certainly, coach Steve Hansen is confident they have and to that end the team have been drilled on the training ground like never before.

The players will have an easier week, physically, to prepare, with the nightmare of 2007 likely to come up at some stage in a team meeting.

Mealamu said of the players who have experienced sudden-death World Cup tests: "We're lucky enough to have a few guys who have been in those situations before and being able to share that with guys who haven't played this sort of rugby before will be quite important.

"As the week goes on we'll get a chance to talk about that and it will be covered. We've just got to realise it's an awesome opportunity for us to be in the finals.

"When you know there's a chance you could be going home you have to make sure you leave everything out there; the way you execute things, how quickly you move around the field, you know there will be no next week if you don't do that properly."

Loose forward Victor Vito said: "There's a noticeable change. We've got guys who experienced 2011 and some other younger guys who are on their first one, so the change up in ante now we have put a real full stop on group play with Tonga - you can sense a clear focus now.

"The quarter-final is there, there is no hiding from that, but it's about moving towards it and making sure we are in the right head space, which I've got no doubt we are."

- By Patrick McKendry in Cardiff