Graphic: Wales v New Zealand key clashes

As the Wales players prepared for today’s match against New Zealand at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, the theme that Warren Gatland, the head coach, wanted to impress upon them above all others was that the All Blacks players were just that, players. They were not supermen, blessed with exceptional speed or power. They were rugby players and as such to be treated in the same way as would be the Italy players, say, or the Springboks.

The longer the week went on, the more Gatland, a New Zealander, found that he was repeating himself. “Yes, they have an aura, a mystique,” he said to his Wales team. “But this game is not about a country and its rugby history. I say to the lads, ‘You have an aura, too.’ This game is about the day and how you perform in those 80 minutes.”

At times such as this, Gatland is at his most articulate. He knows what a swath through rugby his countrymen make and he has worked hard to demystify them. “I say to the [Wales] guys,” he said. “Look, we’re better in the gym than they are. We are bigger physically than they are. Rob [Howley, the assistant coach] said to me the other day, ‘They are not that big are they?’ And I said to him, ‘I’ve been telling you that for ages.’

“I have enormous respect for the All Blacks,” he continued, “and so should you, but don’t show them too much respect. I don’t want any of you to give them adulation or show any fear. If you do that, we are beaten before we start and Saturday afternoon is going to be a long day at the office.”

On television on Sunday, Gatland said that his team would do a Welsh haka. On Tuesday, he rolled his eyes and said he had been joking. “The way to deal with the haka is to accept it,” he said. “It is a challenge that is laid down to you. It is a question of manliness. You front up to it.” Just as he hopes his players will do to the All Blacks in the match that follows.