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New Zealand Profile

Friday 08th December 2006

Colours: Black
Nicknames: All Blacks
Major Honours: World Champions (1987), Tri-Nations Champions (1996, 1997, 1999, 2002, 2003), World Cup runners-up (1995), World Cup semi-finalists (1999, 2003)

Coach: Former headmaster Graham Henry first made an impression as a coach with Auckland, where he won the NPC four times between 1992 and 1997. He then coached the Blues to Super 12 titles in 1996 and 1997 and made the final again the following year. He made his international coaching debut in 1998 with Wales, where he stayed for four years. His major achievements in that role included wins over England and South Africa. In 2001, he became the first non-British or Irishman to coach the Lions on their tour of Australia. He returned to Auckland as a Technical Advisor during 2002 and 2003. The man credited with laying the foundations of the Welsh revival before he returned home to oversee New Zealand's drive for the 2007 Rugby World Cup has taken a team to new levels of rugby supremacy.

Captain: Richie McCaw was the tailor-made replacement for Tana Umaga, yet will bring a number of his own initiatives to the fray. McCaw is perhaps less capable of leading the way in terms of pure inspirational handling skill, but in terms of example and of honesty, and of achieving the impossible at the bottom of mauls and rucks, he may even have the edge on his predecessor. Captaincy does not weigh heavily upon him, as he has shown with the Crusaders, and he has a raft of lieutenants in the team to back him up. He was voted as Newcomer of the Year by the International Rugby Players Association in 2002, and had an outstanding 2003 Rugby World Cup, winning the New Zealand player of the year award at the 2003 Steinlager Rugby Awards. He was also a player of the year finalist in both the International Rugby Players Association and IRB awards in 2003 and again for the IRB in 2005. He has 38 caps, and is the 60th All Blacks Test captain.

Key player(s) to watch: Arguably one of the most talented and versatile backs in world rugby, Dan Carter's rise to prominence has been nothing short of spectacular. After debuting for the Crusaders in 2003, he became an All Black that same year, displaying huge talent at the tender age of 21. He is elusive on attack and fearless in defence while his kicking game has gone from strength to strength, culminating in his being named first-choice fly-half and goal-kicker for the All Blacks in 2004 for their end-of-year tour. He was a member of the title-winning Crusaders Development squad in the 2002 season and top-scored for New Zealand at the 2002 Under-21 World Cup in South Africa with 72 points, including a haul of 25 against England. He made an immediate impact in the black jersey with a strong debut against Wales in 2003, featured as an impact player off the bench during the Tri-Nations success and then rubber-stamped his potential with an outstanding Rugby World Cup. Carter capped a sublime 2004 winning New Zealand rugby's ultimate accolade, the Kel Tremain Memorial Player of the Year. He continued in that vein in 2005, scoring a record 33 points with a magnificent solo performance in the 47-13 second Test victory over the Lions. The sky is the limit for this young man.

Profile: The most feared and arguably the most consistent of all the rugby playing nations, the All Blacks have been unable to reclaim the William Webb Ellis trophy since they won the inaugural event in 1987.

But to label a team as dominant as New Zealand underachievers is incredibly harsh; they have consistently beaten all the top rugby-playing nations over the past decade. The All Blacks are still the measure of all international teams and the verdict is still unanimous - to beat the All Blacks is to beat the best.

Current coach Mitchell has once again instilled a sense of pride in the jersey and picks his players on form and not reputation, his decisions to omit some of the most popular players in New Zealand have brought plenty of criticism but results speak for themselves.

After the forwards were found wanting by an England pack in the All Blacks' first Test of the 2003, Mitchell consolidated and reshuffled his pack. There was public outraged over the dropping of former captain Anton Oliver as hooker - replacing him in the No.2 jersey with Keven Mealamu. Mitchell took the criticism in his stride and silenced the critics when the All Blacks thumped Wales 55-3 the following week.

A clean sweep in the Tri-Nations series followed - one which saw the Bledisloe Cup return to New Zealand for the first time in six years - and record wins over the Springboks and Australia left the fans eager for more.

Mitchell attempted to return the All Blacks to their origins, with gritty forward play and hard running backline moves, rather than the exhibition style of play that began to creep into the side's game during the 1990s and the team seem to excel under the soft-spoken tutelage of the former Waikato No.8.

But then came defeat to Australia in the semi-finals of the 2003 Rugby World Cup and the wheels fell off the All Blacks' well-oiled machine. Mitchell took on the under-whelmed New Zealand press - and lost. He was fired by the NZRU as an unseemly - perhaps undeserved - witch-hunt enveloped the All Blacks.

Former Wales and Auckland coach Graham Henry assumed the throne and promised to get back to basics, and won friends by inviting a few of Mitchell's exiles back in from the cold.

Henry's tenure started with a impressive double victory over England, but his insistence on playing a flat backline tested the patience of an expected public and ultimate saw the All Blacks finish third in the 2004 Tri-Nations.

Henry persevered, and his labours bore fruit in Paris in November 2004 when the All Blacks put together one of the greatest performance of modern times, recording a 45-6 over France.  

But the visit of the 2005 British & Irish Lions was the peak to date, as the team racked up a 3-0 series victory, with an aggregate score of 107-40 over the three Tests. the one blemish on the year was a defeat to South Africa in the Tri-Nations opener in Cape Town, but the All Blacks went on to take the trophy, and then completed a Grand slam tour of the British Isles, defeating all four home nations and only rarely breaking sweat.