When the Highlanders beat the Waratahs in this weekend's Super rugby semifinal, it was only the sixth time in the last 15 years that an away team had won a semifinal or final. That's out of 59 matches. The Highlanders now face the challenge of making it seven out of 60, but given that they also lost both regular season matches against their upcoming opponents you'd be brave to bet against the Hurricanes.That the home team wins most of the play-off matches should not surprise you. Part of it is because the team playing at home in the play-offs has earned that right through better performances over the course of a season.We should not be surprised then, that more matches are won by "superior" teams, irrespective of where the match is played.Add to this the very real home-ground advantage, worth a few points per match, for a number of reasons. The strongest factor seems to be a subconscious bias of the referees in favour of home teams, who are influenced by the noise of the crowd.More penalties and cards are awarded against away teams, and referees watching videos of foul- play incidents make different decisions when the sound is muted.Humans, it turns out, are subject to human nature!Travel is a factor, along with associated homesickness, psychology of territorialism, and unfamiliarity with the day-to-day conditions, cultures, languages and lifestyle. Research has shown that teams fare progressively worse the longer they are away from home on their "road-trips" in US professional sports.There are lessons here for teams preparing for the Rugby World Cup, now less than three months away.Squads have been announced, and perfecting combinations and managing the playing load and injury rehabilitation of key players is the priority, but off-field strategies to erode England's home-ground advantages may make the (small) decisive difference.There's nothing that can be done about the effect of the home crowd. This is only a direct concern if we play England, though I did note the marketing campaign around the "Boks aim to create a home-ground advantage anywhere in the world through the voice of our fans".I'd call that good science meets marketing.Travel fatigue is also not a factor - it's equal for all teams and disappears quickly. The time away from home is, however, a challenge, but this is, to some extent controllable.One of the most important player management challenges is figuring out how best to recreate "home", or failing this an environment that is "fit for purpose" and which provides the right mix of convenience, comfort and control.This includes the quality of facilities, and figuring out how to integrate family and friends into weekly routines, rather than forcing a contrived isolation on the squad.This is not for "Dr Phil" soft, touchy-feely reasons either. One of the most fascinating series of studies in sports science in recent years has identified a physiological explanation for these emotional and psychological factors.Researchers have found that the levels of the male hormone testosterone are higher in players from the home team than the away team, while their levels of the stress hormone cortisol are lower.Put simply, this says that players from the home team are in a more aggressive (testosterone-speaking) mood, but less anxious (by virtue of less cortisol) state of mind than visiting teams.If I were preparing the Springboks for October, I'd be looking to boost testosterone and lower cortisol levels - despite being the away team. Not that I think a Springbok team ever lacks aggression, especially in the face of a challenge against England or New Zealand (both highly likely), but the evidence does suggest that, if you can get these levels higher, results do follow.How might this be achieved? There are now dozens of studies showing that everything from the environment in the pre-match tactical session to the way coaches speak to players, and even movies they watch before (action is best, romance is worst!), influence it.These are low-cost, low-downside interventions, which would, at worst, have no effect. At best, they may just cancel out England's advantage, and give us a scoreboard boost...