Us, daylight and the chasing pack
New Zealand is the greatest rugby nation in the world and we would should not be shy about telling the world. That may sound a little smug, but it is 100 per cent justified.
Between the back-to-back World Cup champion All Blacks, who have won 15 of their last 16 tests, to the dominance of the Kiwi sides in Super Rugby, it is hard to deny that when it comes to rugby there is New Zealand, daylight and then the chasing pack.
And it is not just that our sides are constantly winning, it is the style with which they win that makes it so impressive.
There are international sides that would struggle to deal with the Kiwi Super Rugby sides – just ask the Welsh.
Sure, the Lions probably would have topped the Super Rugby table had they not rested their starters in the final round-robin match.
But their season included two games against the Kings and Jaguares, who were little more than speed bumps in any credible title-contender’s campaign.
In the New Zealand conference there were no easy wins, yet still the Hurricanes, Highlanders, Crusaders and Chiefs all made the playoffs.
If the Blues had played in any other conference they probably would have cracked the playoffs too.
New Zealand rugby has a level of depth that is unrivalled.
Super Rugby’s expansion has been to the detriment of both the Wallabies and Springboks.
While Australia and South Africa can pull together solid sides at international rugby, they are stretched too thin to handle the quantity of Super Rugby sides they have.
Rather than the additional teams rising to the level of the competition, they have created atmospheres of lower standards and cultures of losing.
Internationally, this was meant to be the year that New Zealand was ripe for the picking.
With the international retirements of Richie McCaw, Dan Carter, Keven Mealamu, Conrad Smith and Ma’a Nonu’s, New Zealand was meant vulnerable. But it had the opposite effect. The latest pack of talented youngsters have taken the baton.
And as they jostle for top spots, they have pushed each other to higher levels. That has created a deep pool of talent to pick from. While there are a few international sides who have the ability to push the All Blacks, and even pull off the occasional upset, no-one has been able to constantly do so since 2009.
New Zealand deserves the right to have a degree of arrogance in the ability of their rugby players.
That will remain the case until another country proves they can beat the Kiwis regularly, not just once in a blue moon.