All Blacks legend claims Springboks still the ‘best in the world’ despite disaster class in Johannesburg

Jack Tunney
All Blacks legend claims Springboks still the 'best in the world' despite 'disasterclass' in Johannesburg

All Blacks legend claims Springboks still the 'best in the world' despite 'disasterclass' in Johannesburg

All Blacks legends Mils Muliaina, Justin Marshall, and Jeff Wilson have reflected on the All Blacks’ opening round victory over Argentina, as the three-time world champions regained the top spot in the world rankings thanks to a Springboks disaster class in Johannesburg.

It was a relatively comfortable win for the visitors as they pushed aside an out-of-sorts Pumas side on Saturday, but it wasn’t a vintage performance by any stretch. There were moments of magic from the likes of Will Jordan that lit up the match, but for the pundits, it certainly wasn’t a world-beating performance of old.

Asked on Sky Sport NZ’s Breakdown show whether the All Blacks deserve the title of ‘world best’, Justin Marshall said: “The statistics will show that the All Blacks are the number one side. But form is really relevant, and the All Blacks have probably earned their spot to get to number one.

“But in saying that, the likes of France sent a B team out here, and as a result suffered from that in the world rankings, haven’t they?

“So I don’t think it’s as accurate as it could be if all teams were, on balance, playing like they should be playing. But look, the All Blacks are on the right trend.”

All Blacks are not the best in the world

Mils Muliaina was a little more direct in his assessment, saying: “I don’t think they are the best team right now. I don’t think they’re consistently the best team.

“Until we get to the end of the championship, whoever wins that, and you’ve still got the Six Nations next year, I think you get a better understanding of where the All Blacks are.

“They’ve started well, they’ve got on the board. I think that we’re going in the right direction. But South Africa, even after that loss, they’ll be there.”

World Rankings flawed

Jeff Wilson was unsure about the validity of the world rankings themselves, adding: “This time of the year, the northern hemisphere doesn’t play test matches. They’ve finished their season. So we start accumulating points and changing positions, and then we’ll get to the end-of-year tour, and the same sort of thing will happen.

“I don’t think the All Blacks will think they’re the number one team in the world until we beat South Africa.

“We’ve lost four in a row to them. They’re clearly a formidable side.

“Yes, they were disappointing at Johannesburg at Ellis Park overnight, but the All Blacks themselves will know if you want to say you’re the best team in the world, you have to beat the best in the world, and they are the world champions.”

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