‘We don’t have to bowl a super over’: All Blacks braced for World Cup repeat - The Guardian, Theguardian.com

England got the better of New Zealand in the Cricket World Cup final but Steve Hansen’s squad seem to have been preparing for an unlikely draw in Japan

Nepo Laulala and George Bridge of the All Blacks warm up during a training session in Tokyo. Photograph: Hannah Peters / Getty Images

(S)teve Hansen always has a list of what ‑ ifs. It is a habit he picked up from Graham Henry after the All Blacks were undone by a forward pass against France in the 2007 Quarter-finals. This year there is one worst ‑ case scenario to which they have been paying extra attention: the tie-break. The last thing they want is to end up in the same position their cricket team did in the other World Cup, when they lost on boundary countback. “We don’t have to bowl a super over,” said Sam Whitelock, “but we’ll make sure we know all the different processes and protocols and rules of what potentially can happen if it’s a draw.”

Just so everyone knows: they play 20 minutes of extra-time, 10 minutes each way, and then, if the scores are level, another 10 minutes of sudden death. After that, it goes to a kicking contest. Each team nominates five kickers from the players still on the field, and they all take a shot at goal from one of three fixed spots on the 22 – meter line: left, center, right, then left and center again. If the teams still cannot be split, the kicks are repeated, only this time it is sudden death. Hey, it’s better than the rule they used to use, which was the teams ’disciplinary record in the pool stage.

“We know those are the rules so, yes, you’d be foolish if you hadn’t prepared for it,” Hansen said. “But I would be highly surprised if after 80 minutes then 10 minutes each way, then sudden-death extra-time, by which time there’ll be bugger all people left standing, if someone hasn’t scored some points. But funnier things have happened, eh? ”He’s right. The cricketers were not exactly expecting a tied super over either.

There have been three drawn knockout games in the history of the World Cup: the (final between New Zealand and South Africa,the 2003 final between England and Australia, and the 1999 semi-final between Australia and South Africa. They all ended inside extra-time.

But it is not entirely unprecedented. Asemi-final in the 2009 Heineken Cupwas decided on a sudden-death kicking contest. It was settled when Cardiff’s Martyn Williams missed. He admitted later that he had only put himself forward because while he had done a bit of goalkicking when he was a kid, he’d never taken a shot off a proper tee before. Whitelock is glad they have changed the rules since, so that the first five kickers try again if the contest goes to sudden death. “I’m about the last guy who should be taking one.”

Whitelock’s fellow lock Scott Barrett, on the other hand, reckoned he might have a go “depending on injuries”. There would be “a few backs up first”, Barrett said, “but if we were short, out of the forwards I’d definitely back myself”. And while it was all pretty lighthearted, he was not joking. It sounds like the All Blacks really have been practicing for this. It is all part of their meticulous preparation. Hansen says there is plenty else he has been rehearsing too, but he was not going to let on exactly what.

“You’ll be naive as a coach not to expect the opposition to do something different, that’s their job,” he said. “It’s our job to do something different that England haven’t seen. You practice it and you implement it. If it works you’re a superstar and if it doesn’t you’re an idiot. It’s a fine line we live, us coaches. ”They had had a hitch that morning, when Kieran Read missed training because he had a tight calf, but Hansen is“ 100% confident ”he will be fit to play on Saturday. They will go without the flanker Matt Todd, though, who is still recovering from a shoulder injury.

Unlike Eddie Jones, Hansen was not in the mood to start winding up the other side, yet. But he did allow himself one little dig when he was asked about the rivalry between their teams. “I think we’ve played England once in the last six years, so it’s hard to build a rivalry when we don’t play each other. If we could get the Six Nations to come on board with a global season we’d be able to do that but then they’d have to start thinking about the game rather than themselves, ”he said. “There, there’s a headline for you.” There are going to be plenty more of those in the next few days.