Richie McCaw spoke about the All Blacks chances of winning this year’s Rugby World Cup in France.
He said that the New Zealanders were in a better position now than they were in 2003.
They lost to Australia in that tournament, despite being touted as heavy favourites to go all the way. England’s ‘Dad’s Army’ eventually lifted the Webb Ellis Trophy.
McCaw believes that the All Blacks have an advantage in that the majority of the current squad played in the 2003 tournament and learnt some hard lessons.
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“Me, and I know quite a few of the guys hadn’t been around that long this time of the year leading into a World Cup.
“We started to play some good rugby and thought it was all going to happen.
“We turned up at the World Cup and it didn’t. Sometimes the most talented team doesn’t win it. It is the best team of the tournament that wins it.â€
Speaking on Saturday’s clash against the Wallabies, he said that they were fully focused on the task at hand.
“Where we are now, we want to do it right, now. But we also realise that what we do now isn’t going to be good enough down the track.
“We are learning from last time. We thought perhaps we had the game that was going to do the trick and it didn’t.â€
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