As they prepare to face South Africa in Saturday's semifinal, they would rather talk about familiarity with their fiercest rival and not a deep-seated grudge.
It is 20 years since they lost the 1995 final to South Africa in Johannesburg amid talk the team had been poisoned by a mysterious waitress called "Suzie".
Most of the current team had not reached their teens by then and while they talk of upholding the honour of the jersey and respecting its history they claim little knowledge of painful defeats, so often raised by the media.
"I was born in '88 so I don't remember the game or anything," lock Sam Whitelock said Tuesday.
"Obviously in the history of the World Cup you can go back.
"There's a number of massive games the All Blacks and Springboks have played throughout a number of tournaments.
"I think this is the first time we've played each other in a semifinal so it'll be pretty cool to see how it goes and I'm sure it will be part of history."
After whipping France 62-13 in Sunday's quarterfinal, the All Blacks ended a week of denial about France shattering their World Cup hopes in 2007 by admitting they had "fixed up" that defeat.
But against a team like South Africa, whom they play far more often than France, the All Blacks are measuring themselves against more recent performances than 1995.
