The Thursday session has become a big part of this All Black side's preparation - it is when they knock each other about, put the match day 23 under pressure and get minds focused.
Hansen's mind was definitely focused. The usual smiles, banter and curious love of shadow boxing men he couldn't possibly hope to fight for real, weren't evident until business time was over.
There's room to apply some old Soviet thinking when it comes to tests - they are all equal, but some are more than equal others.
This week is one of the latter. It is the gateway test that, based on previous experience, has had a significant impact on setting the tone for the final leg of the season.
For all that has been achieved under Hansen, the respective back ends of 2012 and 2013 were not the grand finales the All Blacks were after.
The All Blacks had the look of a 400m runner who'd taken the first 300m too fast desperately trying to hold it together down the back straight.
In 2012 they were loose and lacklustre in Brisbane in this equivalent game and never lifted much from there. They were able to beat Scotland and Italy because who couldn't and they dug out a decent effort against Wales before going splat against England.
It was much the same last year: after a not particularly impressive display against Japan, they were average against France, found a big game to beat England and then used their courage, belief and sheer will power to somehow see off Ireland.
The reason behind the late fall-offs may be that the earlier season also followed a consistent pattern. In both 2012 and 2013 the All Blacks came into the third Bledisloe undefeated: they also came off the back of impressively good performances against the Springboks in South Africa.
The pattern has been broken by defeat at Ellis Park and so too does Hansen want to see the next five weeks play out differently.
The edge to his voice at training was there because he wants a line drawn under Johannesburg.
He wants the All Blacks to climb steadily to an impressive crescendo in Cardiff - for there to be no doubt that his side is building and not once again watching the chasing pack get uncomfortably close in the rear mirror.
The journey to the summit begins tonight. The standards the All Blacks want for the rest of the year have to be set against Australia and then improved in USA and Europe.
"I know there is an expectation within the group that we have to respond to what happened a fortnight ago and we have to respond with a quality performance," says Hansen.
"I don't think we started poorly in Joburg we just made too many errors. We should have been 17-0 in front after 15 minutes and our skill execution on the pass was poor. We kicked - Barrett's kick when he kicked was executed poorly - and they scored tries off those skill execution problems. If we can get those out of our game we are right in it."
While the backs didn't nail their pass and kick, the forwards know they have to lift their intensity and cohesion tonight.
The Boks were able to dominate the tackled ball area and it wasn't until the second half at Ellis Park that the All Black pack began to build momentum and provide the necessary platform.
If they are to build to that crescendo in Cardiff, the tight five need to be ruthless and relentless just as they were when they last played the Wallabies.
"Yeah it is," said Sam Whitelock in regard to whether the performance at Eden Park is the benchmark for the All Black tight five..
"We have got to keep improving. When we played them in Sydney we weren't where we needed to be. We need to make sure that we start games well and that as a tight five we have got to do our job."
- By Gregor Paul of the Herald on Sunday in Brisbane