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FEARS over the "prying eyes" of Australian spies saw the All Blacks spurn ANZ Stadium for their final training session on Friday and hire a nearby gymnasium to practice sensitive moves.
The extreme measures of the Kiwis came as skipper Richie McCaw played down the All Blacks' vast superiority in Test experience over the new-look Wallabies, and admitted they would be wary of Ewen McKenzie having "tricks up his sleeve" tonight.
After stirring up mind games with McKenzie during the week, edgy All Blacks coach Steve Hansen went into anti-espionage mode yesterday for his side's final preparations for the opening Bledisloe Cup clash.
The All Blacks were booked to use ANZ Stadium from 12.30pm to 2.30pm for their captains' run, but arrived 90 minutes late after training first in a hall adjacent to the stadium at Olympic Park.
"We did a few lineouts in a gym nearby. We thought we would do it away from prying eyes," McCaw explained.
It is customary for teams to run through final moves at the venue a day before, and media are kicked out to ensure privacy.
Hansen has displayed plenty of paranoia about Australian spies in the past, however, accusing a television network of passing training footage to the Wallabies in Brisbane in 2008.
Asked if Hansen _ who himself was accused of spying on New Zealand when coaching Wales in 2002 _ had been concerned about spies in the rafters of ANZ Stadium, McCaw said: "Nah, we always do a lineout session the day before and it happened to be there was a gym right beside, so that's where we did it."
The Kiwis engaged in light kicking and some sponsor's duties for 25 minutes before hurriedly vacating ANZ Stadium to make way for the Wallabies. The two teams even crossed paths in the tunnel, and the mood was said to be friendly.
McCaw said the change of coach from Robbie Deans to McKenzie would benefit the Wallabies.
"There's no doubt that coming off a Lions (series), having a change of voice, no matter what it is, can add a bit of a zing to it," McCaw said.
"But they're the same players at the end of the day that we've played against through Super Rugby and before. From our point of view, it doesn't change things a whole lot."
With the All Blacks fielding a seasoned team and the Wallabies a new-look squad with five debutants — and five in the starting side playing their first Bledisloe Cup game — the Kiwis have an edge in experience.
The Kiwis, who have an average age of 27, have a combined 874 Test caps (average 38 per man), and Australia have an average age of 25, with 529 caps (23 per man).
But McCaw is wary of the statistic.
"The experience thing, if you go out and expect it's going to happen just because you've been here before that's when you come unstuck," McCaw said.
"You have to first of all prepare well and bring the energy and have to deal with each moment as it comes. I think one thing I have learned over time is as soon as you don't prepare as you should, you will come second, whether its individually or as a team."
McKenzie's reputation for injecting the element of surprise into his gameplans could be a factor tonight, McCaw says.
"They always tried to have something up their sleeve I suppose. In the last couple of years playing the Reds they bring something new each week, so you have to be ready for all that," he said.
"I think they're prepared to use the ball if they get ball on the front foot. That's what we have got to deny I suppose."
McCaw said he'd been impressed with debutant five-eighth Matt Toomua's form for the Brumbies, but still half-bit when asked if the new man was a potential point of vulnerability for the Wallabies.
"It's up to us to deny him time and good ball and put him under pressure. I guess that's one of our jobs," he said.
"Test rugby is different. But you look across the skills of those guys and there's no reason why they can't do a job if its put on a plate for them."
Though he's only played a club game and 20 minutes of Super Rugby since returning from a sabbatical, McCaw said he felt in good shape to play a Bledisloe Cup clash.
The decade-long dominance of the Kiwis would not play any part in tonight's game, the skipper said.
"You look at our point of view - the last time we played the Wallabies it was a draw and we were probably pretty lucky that we ended up with a draw," McCaw said. "That's the memory I've got. History doesn't actually matter."
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