All Blacks: Focus on mindset ahead of big clash

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Psychology, as much as brawn and athletic skills, is a key armament for successful sports teams.

It takes on added impact for Saturday's Bledisloe Cup test at Eden Park where victory will further boost the All Blacks or Wallabies as they enter the final month's countdown to the seventh World Cup.

The winner will grab an edge, a mental shift and an initial leverage before the sides' repeat duel in Brisbane on August 27.

Notable coaches including World Cup-winning Wallaby supremo Rod Macqueen have applied the Art of War thinking of Chinese general Sun Tzu to rugby.

All Black assistant coach Steve Hansen yesterday pondered the start of the annual transtasman sporting duels.

From what he had read, he felt the Wallabies did not respect the All Blacks but that was not a major motivation for the hosts as they looked to continue their 25-year hoodoo against the Wallabies at Eden Park.

"Every ground we play at matters," Hansen said.

"It is a test match and we want to win it. Auckland is the home here in New Zealand where most of the big games are played because of the size of the venue, so the importance of those matches is usually right up there.

"We want to stay tight in a fortress, for want of a better term, that is pretty important.

"In terms of the World Cup it is important too. We want to be in the final and win it so there is an important connection."

When he coached Wales he thought they were a shade intimidated playing the All Blacks.

The venue did not matter so much but Wales had been in awe of playing them although he felt that had changed in the professional era.

The Wallabies certainly were not in awe of the All Blacks and probably did not even respect them. That showed through in comments they made to the media but was not an extra spur to the All Blacks.

He said the black jersey had motivated players for a long time and would continue to do so.

Since Robbie Deans took over the Wallabies, they have won just two out of 12 tests against the All Blacks.

They claimed the most recent clash in Hong Kong last year and there is an oozing confidence from their camp they can repeat that result come Saturday.

The new breed are rising in world ranks, David Pocock, Will Genia, Quade Cooper, James O'Connor and Kurtley Beale are pushing their class into regular prominence.

"All those young guys now know that they belong," Deans said. "They now know they can foot it at this level, and that frees them up in terms of their state of mind and their composure within the game to then apply themselves to team priorities."

The Reds' success in the Super 15 had given the Wallabies further reason to trust their instincts.

"The Reds' victory has also rubbed off on to a lot of the guys," Beale said. "There is a lot of confidence within the group, not too much cockiness, but just confidence that we know we have the ability to tear any team apart. It just revolves around getting our minds right."