'Pooper' and Fardy not top of AB's mind

Jerome Kaino. Photo / Brett Phibbs

The clearest indication yet that the All Blacks are not obsessing about the David Pocock-Michael Hooper loose forward combination - colloquially known at this World Cup as "Pooper" - came yesterday when All Blacks flanker Jerome Kaino momentarily forgot Pocock's first name.

Sitting at a press conference top table alongside prop Joe Moody and No8 Kieran Read, Kaino's face went blank when answering a question about the Wallabies loose trio of Pocock, Hooper and Scott Fardy, before he looked to his teammates for assistance.

"All of them have been going well. I think the attention that Michael and [long pause] oh, David, have been getting, I think they deserve it. They've been playing really well."

To laughter, Kaino continued: "And I think Scott's the glue for those guys. He does a lot of the unseen stuff and that's what makes them such a huge threat. As a crew, as a loose forward unit, we're looking forward to countering that.

"He [Pocock] is dangerous. He's shown in the last few weeks and the last year how much of a threat he is at the breakdown. He wreaks havoc all over the place, whether it's in the wide channels or in the middle. We know what's ahead and our focus is on what we need to do to hopefully dominate the breakdown area.

"It's not just David, it's all three of them. They work quite well with each other, and it's not just their loose forwards as well, a lot of their tight forwards are strong over the ball as well. And their outsides. I think the focus for us is on them as a team, but definitely David is a huge threat."

Pocock is a threat and he will win turnovers, just as Read and Richie McCaw probably will. The All Blacks aren't obsessing because they know it's impossible to shut him and Hooper out of the game.

They will have strategies to manage the pair, though, to keep those Wallabies turnovers to a minimum. And those strategies include how they run with the ball - not at players, but into gaps in order to dominate the contact and get the Australians going backwards.

Winning turnovers is hard when you're on the ground or the back foot.

All Blacks coach Steve Hansen said: "Australia have got enough good players for us to be worried about all of them, not just a couple."

The tight forwards also have a huge part to play. During the week in Auckland after the team's 27-19 defeat to the Wallabies in Sydney, there was a lot of scrutiny from within on the tight five and how they weren't ruthless enough at ANZ Stadium.

The result was a shock-and-awe type start from the pack at Eden Park. The Wallabies stayed in the game at halftime, trailing only 13-6, only to lose it completely after the break, with the All Blacks winning 41-13.

Just as the All Blacks had a specific plan against the Springboks - a territory-based strategy due, in part, to the weather - so they will have one against the Australians on Sunday. The weather forecast, incidentally, is an excellent one for running rugby.

Coach Hansen, looking relaxed during the week as he prepares this team to go into battle for the last time, said the most difficult aspect of a final for a coach was keeping emotions in check.

"Not getting too excited too early," he said of his greatest challenge. "You have got to build day by day, and the business part and fun part of the week is Saturday, so it's just making sure that we don't get carried away with ourselves because it's the final and doing things differently.

"The formula's pretty proven for us. We know what works for us. It's sticking to that and making good decisions."