All Blacks legend Sean Fitzpatrick sees parallels between the current New Zealand team and their 2015 World Cup winning squad.
Despite losing their opening match to France, the All Blacks have bounced back emphatically, securing resounding victories against Namibia, Italy, and Uruguay whilst scoring a remarkable 240 points along the way.
New Zealand face Ireland, the number one ranked team in the world in the quarter-final on Saturday night in Paris.
And Fitzpatrick, who won the inaugural World Cup in 1987 with the All Blacks, sees similarities in the vast experience of the current side, and the side of 2015 who won their third and most recent title.
“When you look back to 2015 which was I think the best All Black team to win a Rugby World Cup, all 33 players were outstanding, and I can see a bit of that now,” he explained, speaking on The Rugby Paper Podcast.
“Against Italy there were over 400 caps on the bench. To have Whitelock on the bench, to have Sam Cane on the bench, to have Taukei’aho who I think is an outstanding hooker possibly sitting on the bench, the bench in the last 30 minutes of the game makes the difference, and in big games you need guys off the bench who can have a real impact.”
Fitzpatrick has also been impressed by the unity of the current squad, and believes that it would be no bad thing if squad skipper Sam Cane doesn’t start in the big game at the weekend.
“The New Zealand squad are very tight knit. Look at the hookers, they are doing whatever it takes to help the team win,” he added. “Dane Coles is doing everything he can to help the other two even if he isn’t in the 23.
“Having the right balance is very important, we haven’t had that in the loose forward trio, Dalton Papalii, Ardie Savea, and Sam Cane, who are very similar in terms of size. We need a Jerome Kaino, and Shannon Frizzell is fitting that at the moment.
“It’s how the other two work, who is better coming on with 25/30 minutes to go. Papalii has put his hands up for sure, maybe he’s better starting and Sam coming on, or maybe vice versa.
“We have real competition for positions so to have the All Blacks’ captain sitting on the bench, is that a bad thing? Possibly not.”
The former hooker has seen huge progress from New Zealand’s tight five forwards over the past 18 months, and stressed the importance of New Zealand achieving parity at the set piece and at the breakdown in order to beat Ireland.
“They’ve done a great job in developing De Groot, Lomax and Williams in the last 18 months,” he said. “They are special, because they can scrummage, but also give options. Retallick the other night played in the midfield, he was a distributor. Lomax has a great engine on him.”
“If we can get our set piece right and compete against the big boys for 80 minutes, scrummage, line-out and compete at the breakdown, it’s a huge step in the right direction in terms of giving you a platform to operate from.
“South Africa, France and Ireland all have a good set piece. It changes the complexion and the momentum of the game.”
Fitzpatrick ranks Ireland as the best team in the world, and believes their players now play with confidence against New Zealand, having beaten the All Blacks in four of their last six encounters.
“We’re playing the best team in the world, currently ranked number 1 in the world, and we’ll need to be at our best to beat them.
“They’re in good shape, and what they did to South Africa, the confidence they took out of that game, talking to fellow pundits, is huge.
“They feel as though now they have what it takes. They have the belief in them.
“Before they beat the All Blacks in 2016, they didn’t think they could beat the All Blacks. Now the majority of the team have been involved in teams that have beaten the All Blacks so they have that confidence and it will be one hell of a match. They know where we’re vulnerable, we know where they’re vulnerable if they are, so it will be a hell of a match.”
And the former All Blacks captain believes Ireland have improved further since their 2-1 series victory in New Zealand in July 2022.
“Ireland have more depth off the bench now than when they won in NZ. Their physicality, that’s what got us two years ago, they sort of exposed us a bit there, that physical side of it.
“I think the area they’ve got better is that they have belief, they know they’re good players. You can go through the Ireland team and it’s hard to go past a position without saying ‘world-class’.”
Written by Matthew Luddington
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