KEY POINTS:
If they had not been in different parts of Marseille, and talking at different times, it might have seemed orchestrated.
Springbok coach Jake White and his Australian counterpart John Connolly yesterday successfully managed to turn the torch on the All Blacks as tensions heighten in the shadow of
this weekend's quarter-finals.
White wondered if the soft pool C draw would undermine the All Blacks' campaign to win the Cup.
And Connolly reckoned the results of Bledisloe Cup tests in the last year have given his team a confidence boost ahead of their likely semifinal clash - assuming the Wallabies clean out England early on Sunday at Stade Velodrome, and the All Blacks eliminate hosts France in Cardiff a few hours later.
White is pleased with South Africa's build-up, which has included tough contests against Samoa - at least in physical terms if not on the scoreboard - and Tonga, a 30-25 win during which they came precariously close to a huge upset.
And he contrasted that with the ease with which the All Blacks moved into the last eight with romps against Italy, Portugal, Scotland and Romania.
"It's difficult to say, we'll only know this weekend how much the opposition counts for when you get to big games," White said.
"Now they will play France. We'll be able to see how sharp they are going to be when you judge them against a team like that.
"New Zealand have to play France, say Australia [next weekend in a semifinal] and then South Africa [if they make the final]. It's going to take much more of a toll than it would if they had an easy run into the final." White exuded confidence yesterday. Their quarter-final opponents, Fiji, have never beaten South Africa. Neither have their likely semifinal rivals Argentina.
Scotland, who face the Argentines in Paris early on Monday, didn't even rate a chance, and with good reason.
He admitted the All Blacks would not be as affected by a tough next fortnight as most teams because of the ability within the squad and quality on the reserves bench - "but I still think it must have an impact on your starting XV".
Connolly insisted Australia are confident they can cope with the All Blacks, based on progress made in the past year.
"There's a definite belief we can get away with them [beat them]," Connolly said.
He said the tightness of the last few matches - a narrow loss in Brisbane, a game he believes they should have won in Auckland last year, then victory in Melbourne this year - enhanced confidence within the Wallaby squad.
"But you can't make mistakes against New Zealand or you'll pay for it," he said.
"You make them against other sides and you'll get away with it, but we have belief we can win it [a transtasman semifinal]."
Connolly also suggested the only people talking about the All Blacks were outsiders.
"You're asking me the questions, but outside this room there's no talk of New Zealand at all."
