All Blacks: Richie McCaw’s men rated above current Springboks by British rugby writers

NZ Herald

30 Oct, 2025 10:01 AM4 mins to read

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A decade after Richie McCaw last lifted the Webb Ellis Cup, British rugby writers at the Times newspaper have declared that All Blacks side to be a greater team than the modern Springboks.

However, some of the writers declared Sean Fitzpatrick’s side of 1996 the finest ever.

Rugby correspondent Alex Lowe said: “The world has never seen a forward pack as fearsome as the unit that powered South Africa to successive World Cup triumphs”. However, he ultimately tipped his hat to McCaw’s men.

“But for all-round class and utter dominance of an era, the back-to-back All Blacks who peaked in 2015 remain the greatest team,” he said.

The newspaper’s chief sports writer, Owen Slot, is wishy-washy on the subject.

“This is what happens when you compare two great sides: you start by going with the 2015 All Blacks. Obviously. Because they are stacked with royalty, players we now refer to only by their Christian names.“

All Blacks coach Steve Hansen and captain Richie McCaw with the Webb Ellis Trophy after the 2015 Rugby World Cup final. Photo / Photosport

But he points out that Steve Hansen’s World Cup winners featured stars “at the end of their careers, not at their peak”.

“And the Springboks would do them up front, you can’t get away from that. Plus, they have a ‘bomb squad’, more strength in depth all round, and if they can’t win it one way, they can change game plan and try it another.”

Having not seen the 1971 British & Irish Lions, Slot says the 1996 All Blacks were the greatest team of all time. He points out that John Hart’s men “won three tests in successive Saturdays away in South Africa” and “should have won the 1995 World Cup final but now had Christian Cullen at No 15, Justin Marshall at 9 and weren’t suffering from food poisoning”.

“Their back three must be the finest ever (Cullen, Jonah Lomu, Jeff Wilson), their back row arguably too (Michael Jones, Josh Kronfeld, Zinzan Brooke), and that’s before you even get to Frank Bunce and Walter Little, and a captain called Sean Fitzpatrick.”

The deputy rugby correspondent, Will Kelleher, says: “New Zealand had that unbeatable feel, and when they lost, it seemed like a world event.

“The 2011-15 All Blacks stand alone, in my mind, as rugby’s greatest team. Their 92% win ratio over that period, which included only three defeats, will surely be unmatched in the future of the modern game.”

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Seasoned Kiwi-baiter Stephen Jones predictably takes a different stance.

“Those who slobber over the All Blacks would naturally claim that their 2015 team was better than the current Springboks side. They were not.”

He says the standard of top-flight teams was poor at the 2015 World Cup, making no comment about the shambolic state of the Home Unions in 2019 and 2023.

His assessment of one of the game’s greatest midfielders might raise the eyebrows of All Blacks fans. “South Africa’s best team would have seen them off up front and importantly, Damian de Allende and company would have seen off [Ma’a] Nonu – who was key to that All Black team – in the centre.“

Jones found time to fire a shot at the 2011 side (“it is still stunning how bad New Zealand were in the 2011 final against France”) before saying that the 1996 touring side was “the best New Zealand team” he had ever seen.

“They would be too clever for today’s South Africa if they met, by a three-point margin.”

It’s possible – just possible – that this is Stephen Jones acknowledging Fitzpatrick’s side was the best ever.

Columnist Stuart Barnes, a vocal critic of Ian Foster’s coaching leading into the last World Cup, bows to the All Blacks, saying: “New Zealand sneak the Springboks as the greatest World Cup side – to date.“

But he also issues a stark warning.

“Forget 2019 and 2023, the definitive Springboks will peak in Australia two years from now.”

However, he is another to look to the past. “But are they the greatest of all test teams? No, I would take either the 1996 All Blacks or 1974 Lions

I am not really impressed by any theoretical side being the best, The All Blacks in the period 2007 to 2013 were top class when it came to the game as a whole while their most talented players and top class coach were world champions playing 15 man rugby against the a rather poor rest of the wold, By 2015 there were signs that the individual players began to go downhill.

On the other hand we struggle with shit coaches promoting 1o man rugby ever since 2004 - no game plans but kicking the shit out of balls is all the Springboks had to offer till 2017. Erasmus inherted playes whose top of the lot losses were against the AB's and ITALY,

In the period 2004 to 2017 the Springboks have coaches fired due to incompetence:and lack of game plans n tests and on lower levels:-

! White - fired 4 times - first by the Springbks followed by the Sharks, Montpellier and the Bulls,

2 De Villiers - the worst coach ever in Springbok history - even schools would not appoint him as coach

3 Meyer - after the 2015 RWC - losing agasnt Japan was a new low - fired subsequently by Stade Francais

4 Coetzee - lasted only two years as coach and afterwards fired by Canon Eagles.

The roughly 2010-2015 era All Blacks were tremendous. There's something like three 16+ win streaks in there, two of them only broken by draws to Australia otherwise they would have run into the 20s. The current Boks haven't managed a win streak of more than 7. We've been exceptionally successful at World Cups, we've had some exceptional record breaking performances, but as far as consistent dominance goes it's not even close.

I agree with Pakie about teh AB side but the period should include the White era dating from 2004 to 2007. .

1 1996 All Blacks

2 1974 British Lions

3 1998 Springboks

These things are all debatable and can’t be settled with a simple win/loss record. Opposition has to be taken into account and if the 1996 ABs are the best of all time, they can’t have deteriorated that much by 1998, making the Boks 1998 record even more impressive.

But if the current Boks, with arguably the best tight forwards the game has seen, expand their game with the likes of Sacha, to include the ‘beautiful’ game like Brazil in soccer….we will reign supreme.

It’s all there for Erasmus, can he incorporate structured backline play, not as an afterthought but as a core strategy…..and win that way in 2027. We have the talent. Do we have the courage to reach for ‘best of all time’?

Current Bok side ahead of 1974 Lions and 1998 Boks

"Current Bok side ahead of 1974 Lions and 1998 Boks"

Maybe. We don't know yet.

That's why I never include current sides or players in these "greatest of all time" things. They're not done yet.

"It’s all there for Erasmus, can he incorporate structured backline play, not as an afterthought but as a core strategy"

If we can't do it now, we never will.

Imagine what every other coach must think just watching superstars appear from nowhere for the Boks.

Cheslin is a good example. You think, okay, he'll retire relatively soon...and then it's like, well, there's this chap called Sebastian, and another called Jooste. Edwil isn't far off Kolbe given his low amount of caps. Hooker looks even better than Kolbe did at the same age...which is a crazy thing to say but it's true because Hooker has been called up younger and has had a better start. At the other end there is Arendse who is incapable of not scoring tries. Fassi is out of form and injured, no bother we have Willemse whose only real competition for best 15 in the world is Jordan.

I just wanna put that Kolbe factoid into perspective...he was almost 25 when he got his first Bok cap.

Moodie is 22, Sacha 23, Hooker 22...I mean, what the hell!?

Plumster note the comment that Allende and company would have taken care on Nonu etc. Did you miss that remark. Ninu was a great center but Allende would have shut him down. See how rugby men rate Allende.

Plumster note the comment that Allende and company would have taken care on Nonu etc. Did you miss that remark. Ninu was a great center but Allende would have shut him down. See how rugby men rate Allende.

Beeno, do you get all your opinions from other people?

Minute 2:24 in the video. Nonu not "seen off" of by "Damian de Allende and company", but instead befuddled by a simple inside out step, giving Nonu plenty of space and time to release Beauden for the try. Boks out of the World Cup by the All Blacks going right through "Damian de Allende and company". The shit you guys suck up for gospel is embarrassing.

Shocking. Zero urgency and shepherding the ABs to the line - DDA probably got a 9 rating in that game as usual.

Nonu 11 runs for 44m, one clean break, 4 defenders beaten in that game. Properly "seen off", quite clearly.

The Boks are not a better defensive team when DDA plays...look at recent results. The Argies scored 37 and 27 points against us in the last two games. 64 points...over two games...Argentina!!!

What do you think France are gonna do?

De Allende has never had an urgent bone in his body. The sheparding above is a perfect example. He jogs along, relying on others to do the work. And then people think that's because he has the approach of "you get this and I'm gonna cover you." But it's not, because he is incapable of keeping up with play. He's just never there. If you think that DDA has the type of urgency to make a score, like AE did for Kolbe in Wellington, then I'm sorry, but you simply don't understand what you are seeing when you watch rugby. There are glaring examples of this type of contrast between AE and DDA...it's actually not possible to miss it.

I know who I want in my team. The guy who is bigger, stronger, more intelligent and has way more urgency is in his game. I simply can't see it any other way because the weight of the evidence is 'tung'...

I do think DDA's defense has improved since then, but he is still so vulnerable on the outside gap as Richie showed in the 2023 RWC final with the disallowed try, which was so similar to the Nonu situation above. He's very solid around the edges and stopping big guys running into him, but don't ask him to shut down a guy in a little bit of space.

haha

Pakie

That 44 meters ibnclude Nonu running across the field to get away from De Allende and in the end De Allende caught him and tackled him.

You may wonder why it happened? In the RC before the WC De Allende tackled him so hard he left the field injured,

"You may wonder why it happened? In the RC before the WC De Allende tackled him so hard he left the field injured,"

We be great if I could take this at face value. Unfortunately, I can't and I'm not going to go on wild goose chase just to prove that you're bending the truth again..

running across the field to get away from De Allende

Well, how fortunate that his fear served to set up the try that knocked the Boks out of the World Cup.

Just think, if DDA didn't injure him in the RC, Nonu would have run right at him, been tackled, and the Boks might have made the final. So it's DDA's fault that we were knocked out in 2015 for scaring Nonu so badly that Nonu ran around him to set up a try instead of right at him to be tackled.

This is the level of utter stupidity we deal with here.