Opinion isn't always kind to New Zealand. A win in the first World Cup in 1987 and again in New Zealand in 2011 has been slim pickings for a team regularly ranked number one in the world.
However, Doug Howlett doesn't believe the All Black side he played for twice in the tournament are chokers when it comes round every four years. The 36-year-old, who earned 62 caps, played in 2003, when England won and again in 2007, when South Africa were crowned champions.
From experience he knows that teams step up a level, the weaker sides so that they won’t be trashed by New Zealand and the stronger ones in the hope of an upset. The effort of beating the All Blacks, though, is often fatal for the opposition.
“I can only speak for the two tournaments that I have been involved,” said Howlett. “My take on it is once you get to knock out football in a one off game…what I’ve found is that whoever is playing against the All Blacks play the best game of their life.
“They treat it as a final and there’s not much give or take. Sure we go in with the same attitude but sometimes we just come up against a super team and that goes for the pool, quarterfinal, semifinal or final.
“The two World Cups I have played in we were beaten in the quarterfinal by France, who then didn’t perform to the same level in the semifinal. It was draining. It took a lot out of them.
“In 2003 we lost in the semifinal to Australia, an Australian team a month or two previously we put 50 points on. It was the same personnel but just a different mindset. Then they went on to lose to England.”
It is an attitude this year’s New Zealand team must guard against if they are to turn their favourite tag into a third tournament win. No team has ever successfully defended the title and the All Blacks have only ever won the Webb Ellis trophy on home soil.
“These games, knockout football are extremely draining and it’s going to take three games in a row (after the pool matches) at that level and intensity to win. If the All Blacks are only a little bit off they will get caught out.
“You can tell in matches that teams are on the edge. Some of them are on the edge of the edge. You can tell in the physicality, the body movement, the facial expressions and the impacts. You can tell early on in the game that this is going to be tough.
“You try to break it down and there are seven matches to a final. It’s like a mini season and every game has a consequence.”
For Ireland, New Zealand’s first match will have a consequence. The All Blacks meet Argentina in the first game of Pool C in Wembley this weekend in a probable pool decider. If Ireland wins their Pool D, they will meet the second placed team in Pool C in the quarterfinal.
