All Blacks coach Steve Hansen says he hopes New Zealand and Australia can turn on the style in the Rugby World Cup final, but accepts the suffocating pressure could turn off the try tap.
Steve Hansen (L) with Dan Carter Photo: Photosport
Both teams have been prolific try-scorers throughout this tournament but history suggests a change on Sunday.
The last six finals have produced a total of seven tries, with only Australia in 1999 scoring more than one.
"You've got two sides who are like-minded and want to play footy," Hansen said after his team's final run out at Twickenham.
"The pressure will be on but that won't inhibit either one of them. Time has shown us that we'll play to our own strengths.
"If the conditions are OK I think we'll see some running rugby but whether that results in tries comes down to the defence."
For all the sparkling backline play and eye-catching work by the loose forwards, Hansen said the key to the game would be the front five.
The All Blacks practice the scrum during a New Zealand All Blacks Captain's Run at Millenium Stadium Photo: Getty
"The back row can only operate if the front five do their job. The game is won in the tight five and whoever does that tomorrow will probably have the easier ride."
New Zealand have advanced to the final with barely a missed step, despite the best efforts of South Africa in the semi-finals, but Hansen said he felt there was more to come from his side.
"We're always looking to improve so we haven't seen the best yet," he said.
"Win or lose we'll put in a performance we can be proud of. The group is in a good place and excited about what's coming."
The laconic coach said he would have no trouble relaxing on Friday night and would catch some TV: "There are a few good westerns on," he said.
Flyhalf Dan Carter said he too would be able to switch off, despite the game being the 112th, last and most important of his illustrious test career.
Richie McCaw and Dan Carter during the All Blacks' semi final win over South Africa. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
"I'm a huge believer in having balance in your life and your week," said the flyhalf.
"So you're switched on on the paddock but in free time the last thing you want to be thinking about is the game."
Asked if he had mentally prepared for a potential goal kick to win the match on Saturday, he said: "No, not really. I won a few World Cups in my back yard when I was five or six-years-old but this week I've just gone about my usual routine."
The match will be Carter's 112th and last test and is the chance for him to ink in the one missing line from his otherwise glorious rugby CV.
The flyhalf is far and away the sport's leading pointscorer with 1,579.
He has twice been voted world player of the year, he has a remarkable 89 percent test match winning percentage and his 33-point individual haul when New Zealand destroyed the British and Irish Lions 48-18 in 2005 is ranked by many as the finest performance by a flyhalf in rugby history.
He is appearing in his fourth World Cup, alongside team mates Richie McCaw and Keven Mealamu, but while the three of them all own a winner's medal from 2011, Carter's is unlikely to take pride of place on his mantelpiece.
Dan Carter, Keven Mealamu and Richie McCaw with the tri-nations trophy, 2006. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The flyhalf was looking in fine form in the first two group games on home soil before a groin injury ended his tournament and he watched the final from the stands.
It completed a hat-trick of World Cup miseries after he also went off injured during the 2007 quarter-final defeat by France and was an unused replacement when New Zealand lost to Australia in the 2003 semis.
Since that 2011 heartbreak Carter has suffered more injuries but has fought his way back to form and fitness and while he may lack the explosive speed of his younger self, the 33-year-old version remains the serene controller.
"Carter's genius as a player is his completeness," wrote former England coach Clive Woodward.
"There is no obvious weakness, nothing lacking in his skillset, no fault line to prey on and exploit. He can run, tackle, kick and pass with the best. He has time on the ball, is never rushed and does everything smoothly. He purrs along without apparent over-exertion."
Hansen has seen close up how hard Carter has had to work and said this week that his physical setbacks had knocked him back mentally too.
"He had an horrific run of injuries over a couple of seasons that took away his confidence," Hansen said. "Before that everything he touched turned to gold.
Carter is injured at Eden Park during the 2013 Rugby Championship. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
"It's the mark of the guy how he's come through that. A lot of people might have said 'enough's enough, I'll chuck it in' but he stuck with it and he's got that inner confidence back.
"When you start to play well it's like a snowball, and it gets bigger and bigger and all of a sudden it becomes an avalanche. When he's like that he's a special player."
Hansen and his players have persistently played down the fact that several veterans will be retiring after Saturday's game and he suggested on Thursday that he had played a "big part" in the 2011 success.
"Will he feel better if he gets to play in the final? Of course he will," Hansen added.
"If we're good enough to win it he'll feel better about that too."
NEW ZEALAND AT THE BIG DANCE
* Winners in 1987 and 2011. Runners-up in 1995.
* New Zealand are hoping to become the first team to retain the Webb Ellis Cup. The All Blacks have yet to win the World Cup outside of New Zealand.
* New Zealand have won 13 successive World Cup matches, a competition record.
* Richie McCaw will extend a World Cup record in captaining his side for the 13th time in the competition. He also extends the world record for test appearances to 148.
* With his 22nd appearance in a World Cup match, McCaw equals the competition record -- 22 by England's Jason Leonard.
* McCaw is the leading try scorer in tests against Australia on 11. Centre Ma'a Nonu is the only other player in double figures (10).
* Fourteen players in the All Blacks' squad for this tournament were part of the 2011 side. They are Keven Mealamu, Owen Franks, Ben Franks, Sam Whitelock, Jerome Kaino, Richie McCaw, Kieran Read, Victor Vito, Dan Carter, Colin Slade, Ma'a Nonu, Conrad Smith, Sonny Bill Williams and Tony Woodcock.
* Winger Julian Savea is the leading try scorer at Rugby World Cup 2015 with eight. He is tied for the record in a single World Cup with Jonah Lomu (1999) and Bryan Habana (2007).
-Reuters
