Rugby: All Blacks set for hostile reception

Richie McCaw arrives at Twickenham last year. The All Blacks are looking to minimise off-field distractions. Photo / Getty Images

Cheats. The haka is an unfair advantage and should be banned. These are just some of the topics the All Blacks are expecting to encounter in the British media at the World Cup and the management and leadership group of senior players are preparing the team for a possible onslaught which they believe could be a giant distraction.

The cheating tag has long been levelled at the All Blacks, just as skipper Richie McCaw has received an increasingly hostile reaction at Twickenham, the so-called home of rugby.

McCaw's treatment from the crowd there in his last two tests has bordered on disgraceful. Certainly, the booing and jeering for someone who has always played the game in the right spirit has been unpleasant, to say the least.

Herald reporter Dylan Cleaver wrote last November about the anti-McCaw sentiments he encountered at Twickenham before the test: "'If [referee Nigel] Owens has any balls, he'll send McCaw off,' said one white-clad drinker. The only wrinkle in that piece of analysis was that it was still an hour to kick-off. At that stage, McCaw's only crime was his very existence."

The likelihood is that the All Blacks and England can meet only in the final. Should that happen, the anti-McCaw sentiment will reach fever pitch from both the press and England supporters.

The "haka is an anachronism and shouldn't be allowed" story, meanwhile, is a hardy annual the press love to roll out every time the All Blacks set foot on English soil.

It probably doesn't matter in the big scheme of things, but the All Blacks will be prepared for it either way and the tipping point probably came in 2013 when a Daily Telegraph reporter wandered into the team room at the All Blacks hotel, and instead of walking out again, took note of what was written on the white board, including: "We are the most dominant team in the history of the world".

It was a message more about the All Blacks' state of mind to constantly improve than anything, but it received a big reaction and coach Steve Hansen hasn't forgotten it.

"It's definitely going to be tough," All Blacks loose forward Jerome Kaino said. "Going over to England during the end-of-year tours, they [public and media] ramp up the intensity on the team. It seems the media try to cause disruption with what they talk about.

"That's just going to be amplified with England hosting the tournament and us being world champions. It's not going to be easy but it would be pretty gratifying if we could come home with the trophy."

Kaino added: "You can pinpoint what they're going to talk about — it's going to be about the haka and what we do [tactics both legal and otherwise]. We've already spoken about it as a team — possible what-ifs — and the more prepared we are, the better we'll be."

Professional rugby coaches are forever on the lookout for potential distractions they feel can harm their team's performance, but some can be favourable. You only need glance at the Crusaders' record in 2011 when they played their entire season on the road and made the grand final to know some can serve as a source of inspiration. Distractions don't come much bigger than fatal earthquakes, but the Crusaders drew strength from literal and metaphorical upheaval.

A more likely distraction could be the actions of well-meaning expat players in the United Kingdom keen to catch up with their friends and former team-mates, as Kaino also indicated.

"There's a huge expat population over there in terms of Kiwis wanting to be close to the team. That will add to the pressure, knowing what it means to them, but the leaders and coaches have a good handle on it and we'll be well prepared."