All Blacks are still not ‘good enough’ to win the Rugby World Cup
Team mates celebrate with Richie Mo'unga after scoring against South Africa during the 2023 Rugby Championship.
All Blacks legend Murray Mexted is not getting carried away with New Zealand’s form and believes they are not yet good enough to win the Rugby World Cup.
Ian Foster’s charges face off against Australia in the final round of the Rugby Championship next weekend, needing just two table points to clinch the title.
The All Blacks claimed a 35-20 win over the Springboks last weekend, taking their unbeaten streak to nine games after two wins over Argentina and victories over Japan, Wales, Scotland, England and South Africa and a draw with England.
New Zealand are currently ranked third in the world rankings and are rapidly closing the gap on France in second, with their statement victory over South Africa taking them within 0.15 ranking points.
The All Blacks ran in seven tries to thump Argentina 41-12 in their first Test of the year before a rapid start in Auckland paved the way for a 35-20 win over the Springboks.
All Blacks aren’t there yet
Despite the results in the opening rounds of the Rugby Championship, former forward Mexted, who played 34 Test for the All Blacks between 1979 and 1985, believes they aren’t quite sharp enough to win the World Cup but added that they are trending in the right direction.
“One step at a time, in my opinion, and at the moment, we’re not the perfect package,” Mexted said on The Platform’s It’s Only Sport show with Martin Devlin.
“Are we good enough at the moment to win the Rugby World Cup? No, we’re not, but we’re definitely showing the signs of a much-improved team.
“Provided the team is selected pretty consistently. In other words, not changing too many combinations, sticking together playing that team of 19 or 20 guys… to get more rhythm. We can only get better.
“We’re definitely trending in the right direction.
“Mendoza was a good start, a really good start because it’s hard to play in places like that, and then we followed it up against probably the best opposition you could play against [South Africa].
“We’re heading in the right direction, in my view.”
Improvements
Mexted added that the All Blacks need to be consistent in their performances going forwards after failing in that department over the last two years.
However, he feels that the changes in the coaching staff last year has aided the side and will continue to do so.
“The inconsistencies of the last two years or so are obvious for everybody; we’ve all seen them,” he said.
“They’ve had a restructure of their coaching line-up, and I think it’s paying dividends.
“We’re seeing a more improved effort, particularly from the front row, because that was a magnificent forward pack, the Springbok forward pack, and we had that scrum under control.”
The All Blacks face the Wallabies in Melbourne on July 29 as they look to wrap up the Rugby Championship.
They then return to New Zealand for their final home game before the World Cup as they clash with Australia in Bledisloe II at Forsyth Barr Stadium.
Their final warm-up game before the World Cup is at Twickenham, when they will face the Springboks once again.
READ MORE: Picking an ANZAC XV to face the British and Irish Lions, if they played this weekend