Rugby World Cup heroes of '87 meet today's hopefuls

All Black Captain Richie McCaw (L) talks with 1987 All Black Terry Wright (R). Photo / Getty Images

Members of the winning 1987 Rugby World Cup All Blacks team lunched with their modern-day counterparts yesterday - but few words of advice were passed across the generation gap.

Kieran Crowley, who coached Canada at this year's tournament, said the lunch at Auckland's Heritage Hotel was a chance to show support.

"We know what they're going through. And they get all the advice they need from the coaches ... they wouldn't have got where they've got to by now by having to rely on old fellas like us."

Crowley said the inaugural 1987 tournament was nothing like the showpiece it is now, and there was no 20-year history of failure to shoulder.

"We were probably a little bit lucky that it was the first one."

David Kirk, the only All Black captain to hold the Webb Ellis Cup aloft, felt today's All Blacks were well coached and had a great leader in Richie McCaw.

"But there's no point saying they deserve to win. Because you don't get what you deserve in life, you get what you're good enough to take."

He said most of the 1987 team were back at work the Monday after winning the World Cup, and his own workplace put on a celebratory morning tea.

Despite the lack of financial rewards, Kirk said he didn't envy today's "relentless" professional environment where players were constantly in training camps and "somewhat constrained" in what they did with their lives.

Kirk said the 1987 team had some inexperienced players, but men such as Michael Jones and Sean Fitzpatrick proved themselves to be greats.

One such player, fullback John Gallagher, who is now headmaster of Colfe's Preparatory School in southeast London, said players such as Israel Dagg had the same potential.

"There's still a lot of question marks, but there's a good balance of young novices together with the more experienced, who have been through campaigns and know what it takes to win."

Gallagher knows some of today's All Blacks because he arranged for his students to be involved in trainings during the team's Northern Hemisphere tours.

His old club side in Wellington, Oriental-Rongotai, won their first title this year, a victory Gallagher discussed at length with fellow club member Ma'a Nonu yesterday.

"It's been lovely catching up. It's been great for us old boys to meet the young stars. And I think it's reciprocated as well."

Terry Wright, who scored 18 tries in 30 test matches, has passionately followed the All Blacks from afar, having lived overseas for 10 years.

The winger, who allegedly weighed in at 75kg during his playing days, was evidence of how the game has changed as he mingled with today's muscular players.

"If [rugby] becomes a job and they move on to another job or part of their life and it disappears, that would be sad," said Wright, who is lives in Hong Kong.

"But I think watching the passion they play the game with, I don't think there's too much risk of that. I just hope they enjoy it as much as we did."

Every member of the 1987 team except for John Drake, Zinzan Brooke and Bruce Deans attended a dinner last night expected to raise about $180,000 for the John Drake Memorial Scholarship.

The Auckland University scholarship commemorates the former All Black and rugby commentator Drake, who died aged 49 in 2008.