All Blacks: Hansen keen to toughen up ABs mentally for soft games

Steve Hansen.

Another milestone on the way to the next World Cup ticked over this week.

There are fewer than 500 days to go until England and Wales 2015 and the All Blacks' concern about switching from their weak pool to the business end of the competition looks increasingly justified.

The African qualifier nation in New Zealand's group will be known by early July, but still in the mix are Kenya, Namibia, Zimbabwe and what must surely be the minnow of all minnows, Madagascar.

Already confirmed in Pool C along with the All Blacks are Argentina, Tonga and European qualifiers Georgia. Of those teams the Pumas are probably the greatest threat, but set piece apart, they don't have the firepower to unduly trouble the defending champions. They have yet to win a test in their two years in the Rugby Championship.

It is felt by the All Blacks that one of the reasons they failed at the 2007 World Cup was the jump in quality from their pool opposition Italy, Portugal, Romania and Scotland, to their quarter-final opponents France, against whom they so memorably capitulated in Cardiff.

It is understood that the All Blacks were visited by International Rugby Board officials on the eve of their 108-13 victory over Portugal in Lyon and were told to go easy on their opponents at scrum time, for fear of crippling a front row made up of amateur players. Putting aside questions about what such teams are doing in rugby's global showpiece for another day, the reality is the All Blacks must be prepared for them.

That is why coach Steve Hansen has been instrumental in pushing for the All Blacks' test against USA in Chicago in November before their European tour - an official announcement will be made at the city's Soldier Field on Tuesday night NZT - and why they played Japan in Tokyo last year.

It takes a special mindset to be able to prepare for a test in which the only question likely to be asked by the opposition is the margin of victory, and then quickly switch back to a sudden-death play-off mentality. It is that which Hansen, aware his team's main rivals South Africa, England, France and Australia have much more difficult pools, wants to strengthen.

If Madagascar, a country with more than 25,000 registered rugby players, do make it to their first World Cup, it will be the culmination of a dramatic journey which gained traction back in 2012, when they finished at the top of their African qualifying group by beating Namibia by the incredible scoreline of 57-54 in front of 40,000 at the Mahamasina Stadium.

The IRB has promised to provide specialist coaching to whichever African nation qualifies for the All Blacks' group, but whether they will ask Hansen's men to go easy on them remains to be seen.