KEY POINTS:
All international rugby coaches undertake an enormous amount of computer analysis on their opponents but the challenge is not to let that detail cloud what unfolds on the field, says All Blacks assistant coach Wayne Smith.
Coaches and players were all creatures of habit and the All Blacks
had won a number of games because of the quality data and ideas coach Graham Henry had gleaned about rivals and then imparted.
If the opposition coaches remained the same, the All Blacks usually went back through about seven games to sift the trends, patterns, strategies and style they preferred.
Sometimes the search went awry, like in Sydney this year when the All Blacks fielded an enormous amount of Wallaby kicks they had not expected, but generally the research had a rate of around 75 per cent success.
"We do a great deal of homework but you can't let it paralyse you," said Smith.
The coaching staff and players looked at core clips of the opposition and worked out how best to play and negate them.
"It is best guess, we assume nothing because out on the field they have to play what is in front of them," Smith added.
Players had to be encouraged to know what they were looking for and to understand what they should do when they saw those types of events unfold.
That was more important than going into a test thinking Scotland were going to do specific things tomorrow. It was important to have fallback plans as well because opponents would always do a great deal of work on them.
Australia and the Springboks were quite patterned, but the European nations were not as predictable.
Smith was sure the new-look All Blacks were excited about the challenge at Murrayfield tomorrow, they had current form, they had the boost of training together for several days in Hong Kong and this week in Edinburgh. It was a tidy preparation.
The test match arena would be different from what some were used to because the intensity and pressure would increase but the tasks and the skills required to deal with them were still the same.
"It shouldn't be too big a task for them. There is the hype of the debut but that should be positive," Smith said.
Some thinking may have to be retailored if conditions altered drastically but the fundamentals remained the same. The All Blacks would still attack, it was a matter of refining which parts of Scotland and the field they felt were best to challenge.
The principles remained the same. The forwards and backs units had to mesh they could not operate independently.
There was a risk in every test but the All Black selectors thought they had chosen a great blend of promise, talent and form players for this international.
"Our expectations remain the same and we trust the players will deliver," Smith added.
The Scots had an experienced pack who would try to use their size and power to create problems at set piece and the breakdown.
Their backline was young but had some very pacy men who also had strong hearts.
While the tour captain Richie McCaw was in the reserves this weekend, he had been working very hard behind the scenes with others in the squad. He had been careful to let new captain Keven Mealamu run the team the way he felt comfortable.
The All Blacks had not mentioned how to play Ireland next weekend but computer clips were being downloaded and the core of that side would gather for several practice hit outs this weekend.