All Blacks: Long wait almost over

Steve Hansen speaks at the team hotel in London before the All Blacks' opener. Photo / Brett Phibbs

As the days slowly ticked by this week before the All Blacks' first game of their World Cup defence, one thing became increasingly clear - their excitement about getting started will easily overwhelm any nerves they might be feeling.

Steve Hansen used the analogy of a duck on a pond - calm on top but working hard beneath the waterline. While he and his coaching team have given an impressive appearance of being genuinely excited to be here, the truth is they would probably like nothing better than to take flight and leap into action. The adrenaline is starting to flow.

"This tournament has taken a while to arrive - four years - and probably the last week has felt like four years so a lot of training, a lot of planning. We've got a group of men who are really itching to get started," he said.

We will know a lot more about how the All Blacks are travelling after their match against Argentina at Wembley on Monday morning (NZT), but Hansen is confident he and his management group have done everything possible to give the players the best chance to defend their title.

Physically, they are in very good shape - rested and hungry after a break of a month since their last test against Australia at Eden Park. And mentally they are, too, according to Hansen, who said a few close scrapes in recent times had given his side, particularly the younger players, the confidence and edge to know they are never out of a match.

The examples given were Ireland in Dublin in 2013 and Australia in Brisbane last year, two tests the All Blacks should have lost but for last-minute interventions by Ryan Crotty (helped by an Aaron Cruden conversion) and Malakai Fekitoa (helped by Colin Slade's extras), respectively.

"The older guys and the leaders, they've been there before and done it," Hansen said. "But the calmness and clear-headedness to get the process of what we did in the last couple of minutes [in Dublin and Brisbane] is massive and, for a young player to come through that and realise if I do stay calm and concentrate on what I have to do right here and right now rather than worrying about what's on the scoreboard, then anything's achievable."

He added: "I think we've created an environment within the group that allows us to play good rugby, to win some games comfortably and win some other games no so comfortably. Thinking back to Ireland, that was a tough, tough game and it showed we had the mental strength to get the job done.

"And of course we're capable of losing, too, because we've done that three times as well. You can chuck a couple of draws in as well. This team has got a lot of talent and a lot of self-belief.

"It now just needs to have the hunger and desire and work ethic and to use the luck we get. We'll get our fair share of luck and we'll get our share of bad luck. It's how we use that luck and deal with the bad luck which will determine how far we go in this tournament. But I'm confident what we've done in the past four years has put us in pretty good shape."

He admitted a test against the Pumas, who pushed the All Blacks close in the quarter-final of the last World Cup, probably wasn't an ideal first match of the tournament given their strength, but it will serve to focus minds.

Playing at Wembley Stadium should also help. "We all understand and know the history of Wembley. It's a special arena with special history."