Murray Mexted: ‘Super Rugby’s level is not as high as it was’ after exit of South African teams and how it’s impacted the All Blacks

Murray Mexted has highlighted how the departure of South African teams from Super Rugby has had a direct impact on the All Blacks’ recent decline in the international arena.

The All Blacks are currently on their 2025 Grand Slam tour and started that campaign with back-to-back victories against Ireland in Chicago and Scotland at Murrayfield.

However, things went pear-shaped this past weekend when they suffered a 33-19 defeat against England at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham.

The men in black are set to take on Wales at the Principality Stadium and although they will be keen to bounce back with a victory, their tour will be viewed as a failure as their Grand Slam dream has been ruined.

Statistically, the All Blacks are the most successful team in the history of Test rugby but they have been playing second fiddle to their arch-rivals the Springboks in recent years.

Three defeats for the All Blacks in 2025

The Boks are currently firmly entrenched as the top ranked team in World Rugby’s official rankings while the All Blacks occupy second position and Saturday’s result against England is their third defeat of the year after they also suffered Rugby Championship losses to Argentina in Buenos Aires and South Africa in Wellington.

Shortly after rugby union turned professional in 1995, Super Rugby was launched in 1996 and the leading clubs from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa participated in the tournament.

It was very successful competition which lasted for more than 20 years with clubs from Argentina and Japan also allowed to participate during that period.

However, after the Covid-19 pandemic struck, which curtailed the 2020 Super Rugby tournament, it forced a rethink in New Zealand and Australia, with travel being notably impacted.

New Zealand Rugby decided to break away, establishing the domestic Super Rugby Aotearoa tournament, before they and Australia joined forces to set up Super Rugby Trans-Tasman and then Super Rugby Pacific.

That meant teams from South Africa were forced to go their own way with their four leading franchises – the Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers – joining the United Rugby Championship.

Meanwhile, Scott Robertson took over the coaching reins at the All Blacks in 2024 after a successful stint with the Crusaders where he won seven Super Rugby titles in a row with the Christchurch-based outfit between 2017 and 2023.

Robertson has added two of his Crusaders assistant coaches, Jason Ryan and Scott Hansen, to his backroom staff but the coaching trio have not been able to replicate their Super Rugby success at Test level.

Legendary New Zealand number eight Mexted believes there is a direct correlation between the All Blacks’ declining form and the departure of South African teams from Super Rugby.

Ex-All Blacks coach highlights costly faults in England defeat and questions backroom ‘unity’

Mexted recently appeared on the DSPN podcast with Martin Devlin and praised England for the manner in which they went about their business in securing their victory over the All Blacks before discussing Robertson and his coaching staff while also bemoaning the absence of South African sides in Super Rugby.

‘I think they played strategically clever rugby’

“They (England) closed the game down well and I think they played strategically clever rugby,” he said. “So strategically, they’re good. And I think they beat us in that department. I mean, the second half, they definitely won that game.

“We actually won 51% of the ball, but I was very interested because I think possession is the main one. It’s very hard to win without the ball. If you’re away from home, you need more than your share of the ball to counter the away factor.

“That’s my philosophy. But when I saw the English team, I just about did a double take because that would be the shortest forward pack England have played for a couple of years now, I’d imagine. There was no really tall, loose forward.

“So they only had two lineout jumpers in some respects and that’s probably why we won the ball. But they weren’t concentrating on possession, they were concentrating on strategy and they beat us in that department.

“The other thing that I think stood out for me is that we’ve got an issue in defence where it’s too easy to score tries against us.

“And so we need to look at that. And I don’t know who the defence coach is. You know, it’s a funny thing, when Razor (Robertson) announced all his (coaching) team, his crew, there were so many, I thought, well, that’s impossible.

“But it was just a matter of time and I’ve been giving him plenty of leash because it looks to me like they’re moving in the right direction. And I think they finally got to a stage where they’re down to three main selectors, haven’t they?

“And some people probably think there’s a Canterbury factor there, but that doesn’t worry me. I think we’re bigger than that when we get to the international level.

“It’s the three best guys for the job. He works well with those two Canterbury (guys). I think Jason (Ryan) knows what he’s doing in the front-row and he’s doing a good job.

“So I think I’ve got no problems with that, as a selector. And the same thing with Hansen and the backs, they’re a proven combination at Super Rugby level. But this is not Super Rugby level.

“And I think the whole world probably understands that better than we do. Super Rugby level for many years has been outstanding because we had the South African teams in the competition and it was a really high level.

“The level of Super Rugby at the moment is not as high as it was.”

READ MORE: Ex-All Black pinpoints two factors which have led to New Zealand’s decline including ‘major issue’