Its been 20 years since the All Blacks last won the William Webb Ellis trophy. But on the recent form shown by Graham Henry's side, a lot of people will be wondering if this will also be their year.

In the last few Tri-Nations series they have lost one game each season, once to Australia, and three times to the Springboks. The All Blacks have shown that they travel particularly well, only losing away to South Africa and Australia. They have beaten France twice home and away within 12 months, and also travelled the Northern Hemisphere, where they became only the second All Blacks team to win the Grand Slam with victories over Scotland, Wales, Ireland and England.

I am lucky to have been able to get inside access to a lot of the New Zealand provincial sides like Auckland, North Harbour, Taranaki, Canterbury, Waikato and others, and what I have seen has me excited about the chances of the All Blacks bringing back the World Cup.

'On speaking with coaches in New Zealand, there is a consensus that this is one of the strongest All Blacks sides going to the World Cup'


I attended the Tri-Nations finale at Eden Park this season, and although the All Blacks were not entirely convincing in the win, they did enough to get a vital victory over their arch-enemies. To me it was a vital blow in the confidence to the Aussie side. They had managed to beat the All Blacks in Australia a few weeks earlier, but then there were some calls that went against the visitors that night that may have gifted the Wallabies a lucky win.

The All Blacks are really the only side that have consistently shown enough form to win the vital games, whereas England have struggled since winning the World Cup in 2003, The Wallabies have struggled against the All Blacks both home and away, only winning once in the last six meetings, and while South Africa have had some dominance over the All Blacks, they have struggled away from home against almost every side they have faced. France have recently beaten an under-strength England, but they have also lost four times on the bounce to the All Blacks.

On speaking with coaches in New Zealand,, there is a consensus that this is one of the strongest All Blacks sides going to the World Cup. Captain Richie McCaw, Doug Howlett, Joe Rokocoko, and lynchpin Daniel Carter bring valuable experience.

McCaw is a master at the breakdown, Howlett and Rokocoko are dangerous with ball in hand, and Howlett is also a very reliable defender, willing to put his body on the line no matter who the attacker is, whether it be a hulking 125kg South African prop, or a nimble-footed Wallaby winger.