ALMOST three weeks into the Rugby World Cup and, for England, the tournament is over. For favourites and reigning champions New Zealand, however, the fear is that it still hasn’t really begun.

An opening-weekend win over Argentina represented a decent work-out, but in their two games since, the All Blacks have barely been out of first gear as they have cruised to facile victories over Namibia and Georgia.

Things will be no more testing when they round off their group programme with what is effectively a dead rubber against Tonga at St James’ Park tomorrow, and when the pressure cranks up with a quarter-final against either Ireland or France at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium a week on Saturday, the worry is that New Zealand will be some way short of their peak.

Actually, in terms of the noises from coming from their homeland, ‘worry’ is the wrong word. ‘Panic’ is probably more apt, as when it comes to the All Blacks’ World Cup record, we have been here before.

In 2007, the All Blacks found themselves in an equally inviting pool that saw them brush aside Scotland, Italy, Romania and Portugal with contemptuous ease. Come the quarter-finals though, their ring rust was obvious as they suffered a shock defeat. Their opponents? France. The venue? Cardiff. Little wonder New Zealand’s more nervous rugby fans are beginning to wonder if history is about to repeat itself in the most painful of fashions.

“I don’t think there’s any potential of us being under-cooked,” insisted All Blacks head coach Steve Hansen. “We knew we were coming into a pool that was very similar to what we had in 2007 and 2011.

“We’ve devised a strategy for that and worked incredibly hard on the training pitch. That might not have been reflected in the quality of performance that everyone expects from us, but we know how hard we’ve been working. It’s probably harder than we’ve ever worked together as a team in the last four years.

“Physically, we’ll be ready, I’ve got no doubts about that. I know that, mentally, we’re a strong side so we’ve just got to go out, enjoy the game on Friday and walk towards the pressure of whoever we play at the Millennium. That’s what we play Test matches for. The bigger the challenge, the better it is, and you don’t get too many opportunities to play in anything bigger than this.”

Eight years ago, the All Blacks rested a number of their key players for the latter group games. The policy backfired as rather than being refreshed, they were short of match practice when they were asked to step up a level or two against the French.

There have also been changes this time around, but while talismanic skipper Richie McCaw will not be risked against Tonga tomorrow, Hansen has resisted the temptation to name a shadow side.

He has also been pushing his squad to the limit at their Northern Echo Arena training base, and is confident a lack of intensity will not be an issue when the World Cup enters its knockout phase.

“In 2007, I think we had 12 changes between the matches in the third and fourth round,” said Hansen. “That’s one thing we’re not doing this time. I also don’t think we worked hard enough in those weeks between the rounds back then.

“In the last two weeks, we’ve had eight-day turnarounds, and that’s allowed us to train an extra day and train harder. With the group we have, we have some of the best opposition in the world that we can call upon to train against. That’s what we’ve done.”

With the All Blacks already guaranteed to top Pool C, tomorrow’s game will mean little in terms of the rest of the competition. For centre Ma’a Nonu, however, it will provide one of the greatest moments of his career.

Nonu will become only the sixth player to win a century of All Blacks caps when he takes to the field at St James’ Park, and while the 33-year-old has become an integral part of the New Zealand set-up in the last five or  six years, he wasn’t always regarded so highly.

“One of the first conversations I ever had with him was, ‘We don’t think you’re fit enough and we want you to go to sevens’,” said Hansen. “He went there and changed himself. He went from being a blockbusting, hard-running centre to being a really fit centre who could play for long periods into the game.

“He’s developed his skills over the period and is a beautiful passing centre now as well as a blockbusting runner. He’s grown into a leader within the group. He doesn’t say a lot, but when he does speak, it’s right on the money. It’s a fantastic achievement to play one Test for the All Blacks, let alone 100, so he should be very proud of himself.”

McCaw is nursing an injured thigh, but Hansen has dismissed suggestions the inspirational back rower could be a doubt for the quarter-finals.

“He would be available to play if this was the quarter-final,” he said. “He’s a sensible lad and he knows we’ve qualified. The most important game we’ve got from his point of view is the quarter-final. If we don’t play well and win that game, we go home.”