Hansen: Win or lose keep focus on big test

Steve Hansen and Julian Savea speak to media during a New Zealand All Blacks media session. Photo / Getty Images.

Whatever the result tomorrow night in Wellington, All Blacks coach Steve Hansen knows he faces a battle to refocus the 17 All Blacks involved.

Encouraging the winning players to park their celebrations when they come into camp next Saturday will be the easier part.

Dealing with the emptiness and hurt of those who lose will be harder. The Hurricanes and Highlanders find themselves in the final for only the second time.

The former have played outstanding rugby since week one and have owned the competition. The Hurricanes will feel, playing at home and having been so dominant throughout the round robin, that the bulk of the pressure is on them to finally end their waiting.

They also have the emotional driver of knowing the final will be the last games for the likes of Ma'a Nonu, Conrad Smith and Jeremy Thrush.

For the Highlanders, the ride has been epic. Rated a mid-table filler at best before the season began, they have pieced together arguably the greatest campaign in Super Rugby history. They won't be happy, though, to fall one game short: their journey needs the fairytale ending.

Whether they get it or not, 10 of the squad will be reporting for duty in Christchurch seven days later with the expectation they have to be emotionally and physically ready to play Argentina on July 17.

"I think it is going to be massive either way," says Hansen. "There are going to be some guys who are really, really up and excited [after the final]. And then there are going to be some guys who are on a bit of a downer because they poured their hearts out and got so close.

"It is about dealing with both because you have to get to those guys who are really high and get their feet back on the ground and the other group, you have got to be able to pick them up and get them back into position where they are looking at the next opportunity.

"It is not that difficult, really, because the All Blacks are such a special place. You have got the right to be disappointed for a few days and the right to be overjoyed for a few days but then the guys have to put a full stop in there. How well they do that will dictate how many are going to be involved against Argentina."

As big and as historic as the test in Samoa will be, the clash against the Pumas will be the beginning of the international season proper: it will be the first time the whole All Black squad is together. It will be the first time all 41 players originally selected are in the same place, working towards the same goal.

And it will, no doubt, be the point when all those players uncertain about their chances of making the World Cup squad, look around and realise the enormity of the task they face given the depth of quality.

Pressure will start to be keenly felt and Hansen knows it, which is why a big part of this year's planning has focused on dealing with it.

"I don't think it is about putting them under so much pressure that they can't perform," he says. "You want players to be able to perform.

"There is enough pressure there [squad being cut from 41 to 31 ahead of the World Cup], them just knowing that. You don't have to be reminding them every five minutes but at the same time, it will be interesting to see how they cope with it.

"If someone isn't coping then you have to step in and say, 'right ho, why are you allowing this to do this to you? Is it performance or is it selection? For the players, it has got to be performance because they don't select the team.

"It is through their performances that they give themselves an opportunity to be selected. If we get them - when you can see they are starting to feel the pressure of selection - it is about sitting down with them and saying, 'you don't control it. You can control preparation and what happens out on the park and that is all you can do'. And hopefully they understand that and get that and slip back into where they need to be as opposed to worrying about something you can't control."

While it may seem like a considerable juggling act for All Black management - picking 41 players, having to call in more, working with one group for Samoa and then having to integrate the Hurricanes and Highlanders late next week - Hansen said it was always a possibility two New Zealand teams would make the final so none of this has caught them out.

"To the outside world, it looks like we have been doing a bit of juggling because that is how it has to be played out - bringing extra players in. But internally it has been pretty smooth because we have known for some time what the possibilities were. What happens if two teams from New Zealand are in the final? You work through the scenarios and, having worked through them, probably the worst from our perspective is that there are two New Zealand teams in the final.

"From a New Zealand rugby fan's view, and the two franchises, it is great so we have just got to roll with that and say here is the plan we said we'd do. It is not just about this year either.

"Next year, a lot of these guys who are on the fringes and don't make the 31 are probably going to be with us if they hold their form."