The World Cup may be just around the corner but All Blacks captain Sam Cane has quashed any talk of it in London, with tomorrow's Test at Twickenham against the Springboks the sole focus of this week.
Tomorrow's match has plenty of anticipation around it, with it being the All Blacks' final match before their World Cup campaign in France next month.
But it's a new experience on multiple fronts for Cane and his side, who in the past have usually played their final hit-out before a World Cup on home soil and against far less challenging opposition.
"It's another opportunity to put on the black jersey and it's going to be a pretty special and unique occasion, playing the Springboks at a sold out Twickenham," he said.
"In the past we've had Tests at home, I think we played Tonga before we headed off to the last World Cup, so as a group we're pretty excited about this challenge in particular and the fact it's only two weeks away from our opening game at the World Cup, it's good timing."
Cane said it was difficult to compare final preparations from this year to 2019 where the team finished third in Japan.
"In 2019, because we had our last Test match in New Zealand, there was that excitement about going to the World Cup but here and now, I can truthfully say all the focus has been here on this week and then some more excitement will build and it will hit home that we're heading to a World Cup when we get to France," he said.
"But right now, it's been good that we're in a different country preparing for a different challenge."
The World Cup may be just around the corner but All Blacks captain Sam Cane has quashed any talk of it in London with tomorrow's Test against the Springboks the sole focus. (Source: 1News)
And despite being in a different country, there's still plenty of support for the All Blacks with the 82,000-capacity Twickenham sold out for the fixture — a fact made even more impressive by news England's Test against Fiji at the same venue the following day has only sold around half of its tickets.
While Cane wouldn't comment on England's ticket sales, he said the demand for All Blacks tickets was more a reflection of the passion of his team's fans than anything else.
"I suppose we won't know the crowd split until we turn up, but talking to a few of the boys, most have been able to hand off their tickets pretty willingly to friends and family living on this side of the world," Cane admitted.
"We know we've got support all over the world, not just New Zealand. It's going to be a special and unique occasion, and hopefully we have slightly more black jerseys in the crowd."
Coach Ian Foster has named a near full-strength side for the contest despite the physicality the Springboks are bound to bring, but like his coach Cane said the thought of injuries was just as distant from their minds as the World Cup.
"No thought or talk of holding anything back.
"If you go into games with that mentality, when the margins are so small — five per cent can mean the difference between a win and a loss — there's no point.
"You have to go in all guns blazing and give it everything."
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