All Blacks eye next level of greatness

WELLINGTON: The All Blacks have already been hailed as the greatest side in the history of the game, but tomorrow they have a chance to go where no other top-tier rugby team has been before when they target an 18th successive Test victory.

Other countries have won two World Cups, other teams have been No 1 in the world rankings, but neither the 196569 and 2013-14 All Blacks, nor the 1997-98 Springboks were able to sustain a winning streak beyond 17 Tests.

Tomorrow’s opponents are trans-Tasman Sea neighbours Australia, who are on a painful 19-match losing streak against the All Blacks in New Zealand, and the venue is Eden Park, where the Wallabies have not beaten their hosts in 30 years.

No team has beaten the All Blacks at their Auckland fortress since the French in 1994, and the world champions have already hammered Australia 42-8 and 29-9 this season to retain the Bledisloe Cup for a 13th consecutive year.

It was their record nine-try, 57-15 demolition of the Springboks in Durban two weeks ago, however, that had the great and good of the game lining up to proclaim that Steve Hansen’s side had taken the game to another level.

“This group has shown it likes challenges, especially big ones like this one.

“No one has ever done it,” Hansen said in Auckland yesterday.

“We’ve got two choices, we can try to ignore it and then enjoy it if it happens, or we can say ‘this is an opportunity’. And we’ve chosen to say, ‘Yep, it is an opportunity. It is there right in front of us, what are we going to do about it?’.” – Reuters