Rugby World Cup 2015: Sorry, Cheika, the mental battle is one you won't win

There are plenty of World Cup myths and misconceptions but one that holds true is that experience has been a key factor.

There's been a traceable pattern back to 1999 that older teams with plenty of test caps tend to do well. The Wallabies of 1999 had a total of 622 test caps in their starting XV and an average age of 27.

In 2003, England had 638 test caps with an average age of 28. The South Africans averaged 27 years and had a total of 688 caps and New Zealand when they won in 2011 were boasting 709 caps in their starting XV and their average age was 28.

The team Steve Hansen has picked to play the Wallabies has a total of 982 caps in the starting XV and an average age of 28.

The bench chips in with a further 357 test caps and if there is one statistic that should strike fear into Australian hearts, it is this.

A World Cup final is likely to be a scary place where individuals will feel the pressure. There will be nowhere to hide and this is the very thing that the All Blacks thrive on.

They have nothing to fear on the basis that most of them have seen just about everything the game can throw at them.

No wonder Wallaby coach Michael Cheika is determined to do what he can to debunk the myth of New Zealand, whose rugby team wear black shirts. And shorts. And socks.

Everywhere the Wallabies look on Saturday, they will see a familiar face - a player who has seemingly been playing test football since time began.

Cheika's the sort of coach that knows how to find an opponent's soft underbelly and poke a stick in it, but this will challenge even his powers of astuteness. How can the Wallabies rattle a side that has an average of 65 tests caps and half of whom have played in a previous World Cup final?

What would it take to put the All Blacks off their stride and force them to make compound mistakes?

That's the question Cheika will battle with all week: how to force a mental breakdown in a team that accumulatively has 1339 caps in the match day 23.

The exception is Nehe Milner-Skudder who with seven caps, all won this year, is as close to being an unknown quantity as anyone can be in the age of hyper analysis and blanket broadcasting.

He may be the exception within the All Blacks but it's again very much the norm for successful World Cup teams to have a wild card element. The All Blacks had one in Israel Dagg in 2011; the Wallabies had John Eales in 1991. South Africa had Frans Steyn in 2007 and the All Blacks Michael Jones in 1987.

Milner-Skudder has been fearless at this tournament. He's blessed with a temperament that is excited by the challenge of test football and not in the slightest bit overwhelmed.

The All Blacks have picked the most experienced team in history and yet the average age is the same as four years ago. It buys them nothing except comfort at this stage but come Sunday, it should also mean accurate decision making and calm heads across the park.

All Blacks team to play Australia in the World Cup final at Twickenham:

15. Ben Smith
14. Nehe Milner-Skudder
13. Conrad Smith
12. Ma'a Nonu
11. Julian Savea
10. Daniel Carter
9. Aaron Smith
8. Kieran Read
7. Richie McCaw (c)
6. Jerome Kaino
5. Sam Whitelock
4. Brodie Retallick
3. Owen Franks
2. Dane Coles
1. Joe Moody

Reserves: Keven Mealamu, Ben Franks, Charlie Faumuina, Victor Vito, Sam Cane, Tawera