Given the lengths to which all teams and the organisers have gone to retain a veil of secrecy around training and preparation at this World Cup, it was scarcely believable that a day before the final, the Wallabies had much of their pre-match thinking exposed.
At the captain's run 24hours before kickoff, both coach Michael Cheika and his assistant Mario Ledesma were photographed on the field carrying a page of notes.
It was either an extraordinarily careless lapse by a relatively inexperienced - at international level anyway- coaching duo or an incredible bluff designed to fool the All Blacks.
In all probability, it had to be the former. Both men were out on the field, knowing the media had 15 minutes to picture the Wallabies going through non-revealing warm ups and drills. The mood was relaxed and jovial and being out in the middle of the field, neither coach obviously thought there was any risk of of holding such sensitive material.
But there was - because the reach of a wide lens these days is such that it was possible to clearly read much of what was on the paper.
Michael Cheika, Head Coach of Australia (r) talks with Nathan Grey, Defence Coach of Australia during the Australia Captain's Run ahead of the 2015 Rugby World Cup Final. Photo / Getty Images.
There was some insightful points on there, none more intriguing than the Wallabies undoubted desire to try to upset and "rattle" Kieran Read from the kickoff. Cheika obviously felt Read could be put off his game if he was attacked in the air at kickoffs.
It was also apparent that the Wallabies felt both Julian Savea and Nehe Milner-Skudder were vulnerable under the high ball and could be exposed in defence. There was also mention of Dan Carter and Ma'a Nonu, and analysis on how they liked to attack and what traits they had when asked certain questions by the defence.
It was fascinating in the context of the build up to the game and also in the wider context that this was entirely at odds with the general culture of endless security and coaching paranoia that had gripped the tournament.
Every training venue at the 2015 World Cup was shrouded in secrecy: each was entirely fenced and heavily guarded. There was no chance of rogue spies and to tighten the loop further, few, if any teams, let media in for more than the minimum 10 minutes.
It felt overly guarded and certainly as the tournament progressed, players and coaches started to provide the most astonishing bland answers to the most astonishingly bland questions. By the week of the final there was a determination from both remaining teams to say absolutely nothing that could fire up the opposition.
The real contest it seemed in the days leading into the final was to see who could give the least away and yet not make it so obvious.
Having spent all week - all tournament really - in a state of heightened agitation, it really was odd that the Wallabies could get caught out like that on the eve of kickoff.
It will have provided a salient lesson for Cheika and Ledesma and also every other international coach. It's not possible to be too careful. The culture of paranoia around training is, absolutely, how things have to be.
