Rugby World Cup 2015: All Blacks prepared for referee meltdown

New Zealand All Blacks captain/waterboy Richie McCaw with referee John Lacey, during the Pool C match between New Zealand and Tonga. Photo / Brett Phibbs.

The one thing that won't happen this week is the All Blacks being sucker-punched by the unexpected.

They are coming into their quarterfinal with their eyes wide open: with the firm knowledge they are walking into a cauldron where just about anything could happen.

If it's the French they end up facing they could pull just about anything out of the magic hat they seem to only locate when they are playing the All Blacks at a World Cup.

If it's Ireland, the All Blacks will have much the same view. The All Blacks learned in 2013 that Ireland under Joe Schmidt are not like the old Ireland: they have got a bit more to them than the wild anger.

What the All Blacks also know, eight years too late perhaps, but they still know it, is that the referee could melt down and lose the plot. Decisions that should be made, might not.

Decisions that shouldn't be made, might be and the man in the middle could be the more fearsome opponent.

In 2007 the All Blacks had no idea what to do about that. Now they don't necessarily know how to react per se, but they are aware they will have to do something.

This is the big difference between now and 2007 - the last time the All Blacks had to play a quarterfinal away from home.

They have spent weeks, months and in some cases even years planning for this moment. For a handful of players - Richie McCaw, Dan Carter, Ma'a Nonu and Conrad Smith - this could be their last test.

Their desperation to ensure it's not will be a factor in driving their performance to levels it so far hasn't reached.

"Because it is the World Cup I don't think about that personally," says Smith about the prospect of this being the end of the road.

"That challenge [playing a quarterfinal] in itself is consuming all my attention. If it was an end of year tour or a Rugby Championship game maybe you would think about it as being your last.

"But this is finals footie now of a World Cup and it is where we have wanted to be at as a group since the start of this year. A few years back we started talking about this point and it is pretty exciting to be at this point now."

Comparisons with 2007 are going to be inevitable. The All Blacks are back in Cardiff - the scene of the crime as it were. Again, though, they know that and accept that. They understand that the world will want to relive what happened eight years ago and remind them.

They understand the story is compelling to everyone but them and they will be asked about hoodos and curses and made to feel like France, if it is them, can get into their heads and roam about unrestricted.

None of this, though, is going to surprise them. "We have to work in this period to get it right," says head coach Steve Hansen. "That's the one big lesson we learned in 2007. We will talk a lot of about 2007 and 2011 - there will be a lot of talk about a lot of things - but at the end of the day it is about how we cope with that pressure. It's about how we walk towards it. That's what is going to make the difference.

"The interesting thing about that is there will be another team having to face that pressure, too. We are not the only team having to face it and our track record at dealing with pressure is really good. We are expected to win every test match so it is not too dissimilar to what we normally get.

"We are expected to win. And it is the one constant since I have been in this team...there is pressure all the time and you just can't allow it to smother you. You have to embrace it enjoy it."