Time for world rugby to admit defeat to the All Blacks?

 By Tim Holt, 29 Aug 2013 Tim Holt is a Roar Guru

The definition of futility in sport is taking the field and expecting to beat the New Zealand All Blacks.

With them adorned in black, and greeting you with their war dance, the Haka, it is as though you have been invited to your own funeral, with them being ever so gracious to pound you into submission and lay you to rest.

A stay of execution used to be their mental frailty that always appeared when faced by the Wallabies at World Cups. But after their triumph at the 2011 World Cup, that symbolically included a Wallaby cull in the semi-finals, these demons were laid to rest and brought the focus back onto their air of invincibility.

Highlighted by their winning percentage of 75.75 in history, they have won an astounding 381 of their 503 Test matches and hold a winning record against all their rivals. Only South Africa have been viable rivals to them, but even they have got only a 43.53% success rate against them.

The figures are mind blowing, and become even more astounding when you realise that they come from a small Pacific Nation of just 4.6 million. When you take into account the fact that they derive such dominance from a playing pool of just 90000, compared to the bigger playing pools of other Test nations (Australia 250,000; South Africa 450,000; France 400,000; England 1,000,000), it just blows your mind!

In the face of these figures, and many more I could reel off, it would not be amiss to announce the All Blacks as the greatest team in the history of sport.

Yes, your heard that right…the best team in the history of sport.

Chuckle if you wish, but try to defy that statement. Or I will, in fact, do it for you by offering some rivals.

In cricket, you could offer the great West Indian Calypso Kings who dominated from the mid-1970s till the early 1990s, or the iconic Aussies, who assumed Windies dominance from the early 90s till mid-2000s.

Great teams, with impressive records, but diminished next to the All Blacks’s resume, for they both only dominated half a generation, and then fell away, whereas this rugby juggernaut has lorded over all for 129 years in the game.

The American basketball ‘Dream Team’ might be a more realistic comparison, with a 45-3 win-loss record since professionals were permitted to play in 1992. They challenge the All Blacks’s claim as the best, but then is somewhat diminished when you consider the population of the USA is over 400 million, compared to New Zealand’s mere 4.6 million citizens.

I am struggling to find others worth considering, for although many might have eras of dominance, none can compete with the All Blacks in longevity of excellence.

Only you as readers can decide whether I have proven them as the best ever in the entirety of sport, but the exercise alone raises a very valid question to all rugby devotees.

Has anyone got a snow ball’s chance in hell to beat them in the 2015 World Cup?

Firstly, hi Naru San. Hope you are well mate, you certainly are straightening out some posters :)

This article was written and posted on the roar, an oz rugby site that most of  you know of. May be "politically incorrect" to post it on Sarugby.com but it is worth a read and should provoke some discussion.

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1. "Yes, your heard that right…the best team in the history of sport".

Rugby is hardely a global game when compared to a sport like football.

Their are so many other variations like American Football, League, Ozzie Rules, Galic Football etc, etc, etc that also compete with the oval bal (These countries have their own national sports as major alternatives to rugby)

A soccer team like Brazil has a much harder competition in Football, and they have won worldcups outside of their own country. 

interesting perspective from tim holt, given his irish roots its understandable coming of him, after all the irish have never beaten the All Blacks ever, neither have scotland for that matter and considering the All Blacks over all record against everyone its not that tough a sell.
 
what is important is that the All Blacks dont buy this garbage, this is ammo for us to poke fun and have bragging rights over our nations rugby fans, but the All Blacks need to approach every single tests like its a RWC final, whether it be france, the Boks or tonga.
any other mindset from the boys would be catastrophic and result in a loss which is completely unacceptable.
 
luckily for us the All Blacks have always had a good head on their shoulders, during the build up to the 1st beldisloe tests, mackenzie was taking potshots at the senior players in the All blacks, All Blacks didnt disrespect any of their players, opting for the heads down and get on with it approach. hansen wasnt shy of firing a few shots towards mackenzie in response, but even shag acknowledged the danger the wallabies possessed.
nothing like a good hiding to help pull mackenzies head out of his ass and he was noticeably less vocal about the senior players who outplayed their counterparts in sydney.
 
while i say its not a tough sell, i still think the wallabies, Boks, england and france still have what it takes to beat us and we need to always be vigilant when they come a knocking, were still better then them, but losing to them is more then just a possibility.
 
@mr win,
wassup bro, how are u and the missus holding up these days??? all good i hope, :o)
 
and yes, its a tough ask trying to right so many wrongs, but the All Black spirit is strong in me, si will never give up and will more often then not come out on top, LMAO, :o)
 
@sharkbok,
NH record vs NZ both away and at home is hardout in NZ favour.
since the 2003 RWC NZ have played all NH teams 65 times and we have won 62 test including the whitewash over the lions and only lost 3 matches.
 
when u look at that record compared to the wallabies and the Boks,,,
All Blacks - 65 tests - 62 wins - 3 losses
Boks - 55 tests - 42 wins - 11 losses - 2 draws
wallabies - 68 tests - 50 wins - 16 losses - 2 draws
 
u will see that while the All Blacks have lost the odd match every now and then, the success rate is still high.
 
the argument about the RWC will soon come to an end, never forget that the RWC is still in its infancy with a total of 7 RWC comps to date, once u see a few more RWCs mark my words the ledger will be firmly in the All Blacks corner.
in the first 7 TriNats the All Blacks won a measly 4 titles, fast forward to 2011 and BANG, All Blacks have 10 from 16 TriNat titles.
 
IRB No1 ranking, in its first year All Blacks were only No1 less then 40% of the time, fast forward to the present date and we have been No1 over 80% of the time, more then 4 times longer then england and the Boks the only other countries to ever be No1.
i mean geez, the lowest the All Blacks have ever dropped on the rankings list is 3rd place where they didnt even last a week, instead they were 3rd for a total of 5 days.
 
the RWC will follow suit, just like everything else, but best u and the others get ur fill while u can, cos once the RWC ledger is tipped our way, u will have no more leg to stand on and can go back to SA real past time of crying about the ref, LMAO, :oD