Ella, a gifted first five who oversaw a golden period of Wallabies rugby in the 1980s and who retired too early, said Australian rugby had "gone backwards" in recent seasons and the All Blacks were ruthlessly exposing that fact.
"We've gone backwards basically. Look at Super Rugby, two or three years ago even when the Waratahs won in 2014, I was saying back then we needed to be working on our ball skills.
"All the old guys are saying the same thing. They think we're a bunch of old dickheads who don't know what we are talking about. But we can't catch and pass under pressure. What are the All Blacks doing? Catching and passing under pressure. The All Blacks are two or three levels above everybody else."
He also lauded the All Blacks' tactical nous, saying South Africa naively played into New Zealand's hands at Kings Park.
"When Morne Steyn came back, he did the job against Australia (but) the Kiwis knew exactly what was going to happen. They (South Africa) were just going to kick for territory. The All Blacks controlled the football for 14 or 15 phases, and they just had patience. They knew they were going to score. They control the football unbelievably, better than any other side in world rugby."
Ella said he admired Argentina's efforts to emulate All Blacks rugby but said the Pumas should revert to "10-man rugby" until they lifted their skill level to the same as New Zealand's.
