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All Blacks are far and away the best team

Roar Guru
9th March, 2011
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Roar Guru
9th March, 2011
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2241 Reads
Richie McCaw trains

All Blacks captain Richard McCaw trains with team-mates at Trinity Grammer. AAP Image/ Joe Castro

With the Rugby World Cup now just six months away, it’s fairly safe to say that, allowing for last-minute surprises, the 30-man squads for the major nations are close to being set in cement.

And I find, as a Wallaby fan, that when I muse on those 30-man squads, the All Blacks come out way ahead.

The current depth in New Zealand rugby is remarkable.

For example, unless you’re a Kiwi tragic, Ben Smith, Siale Piutau, Kendrick Lynn, Shaun Treeby, Kade Poki, Robert Robinson, Jamie Mackintosh, Jason Rutledge, Chris King, Jarrad Hoeata, Josh Bekhuis, Alando Soakai, Nasi Manu are not household names.

Yet, last weekend, these guys, plus Jimmy Cowan and Adam Thompson, defeated the mighty Bulls at the Bulls’ own fortress, Loftus Versfeld.

Kiwi fans might not agree, but I doubt few of these “under the radar 13” will make it into the All Blacks 30. There are just too many good players ahead of them.

Graham Henry, like all the coaches of the Big Five, will mix and match his team throughout the pool games, and solidify it in the quarters and whatever progress it can make from there.

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Major players like Carter and McCaw, and potential match winners like Sivivatu and Gear, not to mention Read, Kaino, Thorn and Williams, will be periodically rested in the early stages.

The problem is, and it’s a coach’s nightmare, several key players will be included in the pool games and there’s always a chance that some 110 K flanker, playing for one of the minnows like Canada, Japan or Tonga, will level one of the AB stars.

Injuries threaten all the teams, and it’s one more reason why depth plays a big part in any extended tourney like the RWC. But injuries or no, from where I sit I don’t see any country being able to match the talents of the All Blacks. They not only have the best team, they also have the best A team.

Don’t agree?

Aussies, let’s have your Wallaby 30-man squad. Kiwis, let’s have your All Blacks 30 man squad. That way we can compare them.

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