Gregan says gap to All Blacks is closing

Love that, Ive lost count of the amount of times the All Blacks have supposedly "lost their aura" over the last 25 years.. So as for me, Ive given up on that kind of wishful thinking. That rampaging pack of black clad beasts with the crazed look of crystal meth addicts will continue to rape pillage and destroy the hopes and dreams of the rest of the rugby world for a long time to come methinks. Silver anyone?

KPM, that has to be one of the funniest things I've read all day: "like many of the All Black players these days, all those quotes are from the past." Are you Murray Mexted in disguise perhaps?

rhino - well as long as it works for SA. NZ its different. if its not spectacular then kids will go play something that is. amongst the islanders its not enough to win, you have to win and look good doing it.

Just watch a program called Re:Union or listen to monday morning rugby round up on radio sport and you will get what I mean. I also had the opportunity to watch most world cup games in a New Zealand pub. Now that was an experience.

Mania.... South Africa doesn't care about "inspiring kids to flock to rugby clubs" because rugby is already absolutely huge with no other competition against it. Unlike Australia. Thousands and thousands of kids already play rugby and flock to play regardless of the style the Boks are playing. In my school of 500 boys back in the 90's we had minimum of 4 teams for every age group (U14; U15 U16) and then 8 teams in the open stages. That's 300 boys at absolute least playing every Saturday during rugby season. The biggest inspiration is actually whether the Boks WIN or not. That inspires! Not whether they play "running rugby" or not or whatever people want to assume that means because a team like the Bulls who supposedly played "boring" rugby scored by far the most amount of tries in 2009 and 2010 when they played this perceived "style of rugby". That inspires and brings the crowds too. So KPM your theory of this style of rugby being nullified since 09 Doesn't make sense as the Bulls crushed everyone in 2010... with the Stormers in the final too.....!? Some bigger boys schools of 1500 boys went up to i's & j's in each age group... Must be pretty disheartening playing for the U15 J team... but hey they had fun I guess. And open teams went up to 13 and 14ths. Which is why 1st Team School Boy rugby is so big in SA and draws crowds of 10,000 people plus to big derby games. My point is South Africa doesn't need to worry about "growing the game" or inspiring boys to play. Or worry about TV ratings etc. That's why there's 2 completely different mindsets about this coming from Australia and South Africa respectively.

Being arrogant then smashing your opposition is to me the best thing in sports. That's why I love Ali, Mayweather, The U (80-90s) etc. It's why I play rugby on weekends and why I'll happily pay for pay per view on Foxtel to watch guys talk smack then come through. Watching arrogant guys fall short is also good to watch though not so good (watching Waratahs lose). Supporters though have no right to be arrogant. They have no input, bearing or anything to do with the game.

Moa, I'm with you there. I'd hate to belong to a group of people considered 'arrogant' by another group of people.

I'm currently popping out of QLD lol.

Ash,you love to pop out of wherever it is you are,every now and again,to make a dig.How about some quotes to back up your otherwise spurious claims?..."...AB supporters again show the arrogance ....." ???

Unfortuneatly Ash, both sets of fans pretty much have the right to be arrogant. AB's at full strength and QLD at full strength should beat their respective oppositions by 13+. I think both sides are midway through a golden period of players and combinations, I hope the end is soon!

Taylor only made the step up in his game when he switched to Fullback, there are better wing options in NZ then Taylor. Gear Savea Dagg Kahui Jane Guildford B Smith all these guys would get the nod ahead of Taylor for an All Black wing spot.

I must see things totally different to everyone else. To me the All Blacks team is much more settled then the Wallabies. Our forward pack has hardly changed, Kaino and Thorn have gone but Williams and Thomo played plenty of games last year. Retalick has a massive work-rate and the grunt he adds to the Chiefs pack was evident when he was rested. Vito has made huge strides and is now a complete player and his leadership is evident with the performances he is putting in week in week out. One of Thomo or Vito will make that next step up and own the jersey just as Kaino did. The pleasing thing for me is our key veterans Hore McCaw Carter and Woodcock are still very fresh, they have not played as much rugby this year due to injury. Hore has spent alot of time on the bench, i expect they will all hit peak with fresh legs for the upcoming Rugby Championship. Mealamu Nonu and Williams are the ones i am concerned about, but with Hika SBW and Retallick pushing them hard it's not that big of an issue. The only concern with the backline is trying to fit in the guys who missed out, a very good headache to have.Even with injuries to Jane and Kahui guys like Guildford and Gear who have been there and done that, Nonu Smith and SBW in the middle and Dagg the All Blacks can still field a familiar backline. B Smith Savea and Ellison will get a chance to make a claim. b Smith and Ellison have been around the Ab's before. Now when i look over the ditch, i see a team that is still trying to settle on a captain and first 5, you cannot get anymore unsettled then that in my opinion. The midfield is far from settled and with key players out with injury it may take a few games into the Super Rugby Championship before we get to see anything resembling a settled team selection. Where will Beale play 10 or 15? Will The Brand play wing or Fullback? Who will partner up in the centers? I see nothing resembling a semi settled team? I look across the board Nz SA and Aussie. We all have some work to do in some areas but for me the All Blacks first test team of the year will contain more players from our regular World cup sides then Safa or Australia. So why are we being targeted as the unsettled side? Beyond me.

Whilst the Aussies maybe over hyped, the AB supporters again show the arrogance that is only matched by QLD rugby league supporters.

"Taine Randell, Todd Blackadder and Reuben Thorne" Just to expand on Sam's point - the latter two won multiple Super Rugby titles as captains but weren't really up to the task at test level.

I'm having flashbacks to 2006. I love how last two out of three has become last two out of four. Can't wait for it to be two out of five.

KPM There is a difference in captaining at provincial/Super rugby level and then again at international level. McCaw was captain of the All Blacks for two years from 2006 but it wasn't until 2008 when he started to impose himself more as a captain, it took him two years and a harsh lesson at Cardiff to learn how to do that. Sean Fitzpatrick was captain of the All Blacks for two years before he grew into the captaincy role, the same for John Eales and John Smit and yet they had led their provincial sides. Picking the right person for your international captain is critical. The All Blacks have floundered under the captaincy of Taine Randell, Todd Blackadder and Reuben Thorne. The Wallabies were ineffectual under Rocky Elsom but at the time of his announcement, there was general excitement and high expectations.

No come on Horwill was captain of the victorious Reds all last year and then the Wallabies while Pocock and Genia have been provincial captains for a year at least. South Africa doesn't have a Horwill.

Australia is as weak as SA. Horwill is still learning as it's early days in his Wallaby captaincy, Pocock is very raw and has much to learn as evidenced in his tetchiness towards the ref in the Force's loss to the Cheetahs. Genia has potential and could be the best of the bunch but is still raw. Being captain when everything is going your way and your team is dominating is easy, but it's how you react under pressure, the decisions you make, sensing a change in tactics is required, staying onside with the ref even when being heavily penalised, focusing on the process and not the result even when you've fallen behind on the scoreboard. Earning the trust and respect of your peers. This is what McCaw has learned so much more about after 2007.

Sam South Africa are probably weakest of the three in this regard. Australia's Horwill/Genia/Pocock are all good, but the ludicrous talk of bringing back Matlfield from the commentary box because of captaincy shortage shows how limited South Africa are.

That line was gold KPM, very funny. One thing that Gregan and all of the responses here hasn't touched on is the value of captaincy experience that McCaw has over all his rivals this season. That canny ability to manage a referee during a game is only gained by experience at the highest level, knowing when to push, when to just quiz, knowing how to draw attention to opposition tactics without getting offside with the ref. Becoming that inspirational leader that lifts the playing standards of your teammates. This is one clear advantage NZ has, which helps immensely in tight matches that can't be bridged any time soon.