Rugby World Cup 2015: Sense of fear welcomed by All Blacks

New Zealand All Blacks loose forward Jerome Kaino, during the press conference, held at their training ground at Swansea University, before the Quarter Final against France. Photo / Brett Phibbs.

The missing ingredient for the All Blacks at this World Cup has been a genuine sense of fear.

They had a little bit of it in their opening game against Argentina and it was only, really, once they had been reduced to 13 men and were trailing 16-12 that the All Blacks started to play a relentless brand of football.

The last half hour against the Pumas was a truer picture of what they are all about - ball retention, quickly recycled ball, width, pace and continuity.

The All Blacks had to find that within themselves because if they hadn't, they would have lost. Pressure brought the best out of them. The Pumas brought the best out of them.

That same sense of fear was never there when they played Namibia or Georgia. The All Blacks knew they were going to win; knew the outcome was never in doubt and without that edge, they were sloppy.

It was a little bit like that against Tonga, too. The All Blacks took time to find their best form and again, some of that had to do with knowing there weren't damaging consequences to making mistakes.

None of this was a deliberate approach by the All Blacks. They didn't set out to be inaccurate or slightly off their game. But there is a reality to be acknowledged: that while they are deeply professional and committed, collectively, the All Blacks aren't going to be driven the same way to play Namibia in a pool game as they are to play France in a quarterfinal.

That's human nature. It's also the nature of top level sport and while all sorts of argument could be mounted to say this isn't how it should be, this is how it is.

It's important to not present this as something it isn't. There is not an extreme or obvious transition in the mind-set of the All Blacks from game to game.

They have a high, base level of professionalism and intrinsic motivation that drives them regardless of opponent.

"We have got enough leaders in the group and enough experience to drive our standards regardless of who we are playing or regardless what is in front of us," says veteran flanker Jerome Kaino.

"We are excited by this week because it is our final - if we don't perform, we go home and that is enough of a challenge for us to be able to bring the best out of us."

This is a case of tiny margins. Of an almost imperceptible change in mood and mentality.

Call it an edge, but there is something in the All Blacks' players heads this week that wasn't there last.

They have been waiting a long time for this moment - for the do-or-die part as this is the stage of the tournament that they say they like the best.

They want that pressure. They need the sense of occasion to sharpen their focus and execution. The All Blacks, not deliberately or consciously, have become a big game team.

They produce their best performances on the biggest stages in the most important games and rarely in the last four years have they fluffed their lines in the heat of an epic battle.

The impression the players have given is that they are glad to finally be shot of the pool round and into the business of finding out who can and who can't deal with the intensity of World Cup knockout games.

The All Blacks like the challenge to be top end. The bigger, the better. They like for there to be nowhere to hide; for mistakes to be ruthlessly punished. In these big games, when they know there is the real prospect of defeat, they transcend a mental state that gives them this fierce determination that is close to desperation yet they also manage to retain a calmness and clarity that keeps them focused on task and not outcome.

Poor performance leading to defeat - that's the blanket of knowledge under which they like to prepare and that's what's been missing in the last three games.