A former Wallabies assistant coach has hit out at the playing style of the All Blacks, and cites a potential end to their dominance in World Rugby if New Zealand Rugby "goes at it alone".
John Muggleton, who was the Australian defence coach for the best part of a decadeand played a critical role in their 1999 World Cup win, has been keeping tabs on the development of New Zealand and Australia in the 15-man code.
The 60-year-old is currently coaching Penrith in West Sydney in the Shute Shield club competition.
Muggleton told The XV he would have no problem with NZR focusing on their domestic game and building from within, as he believes New Zealand play a generic style.
"New Zealand [today], all the teams basically have one way of playing and so do the All Blacks," he said. "They've got a centralised system and they coach pretty well the same.
"The whole house of cards will come down when somebody breaks it, you know, when somebody breaks what they're doing. They're going to break all five of their Super Rugby teams [at once]. And they're going to break the All Blacks as well, because the way they play is very, very generic."
Former Wallabies defence coach John Muggleton in 2006. Photo / Photosport
As the old rhetoric goes, easier said than done, particularly from an Australian perspective. New Zealand Super Rugby sides have won 17 of the 24 competitions so far, with all five claiming at least one title.
On top of that, it has been a long time since the Wallabies have tasted long, sustained success on the international rugby field. Since Muggleton's time with the national side ended in 2008, he has watched from afar as they've gone without any Bledisloe Cup success, and slumped to their worst world ranking in history of seventh twice - in 2018 and following last year's World Cup quarter-final exit.
But recent history offers some form of promise. The Australians grabbed their biggest win over New Zealand in Perth last year, and the All Blacks' dominance came to an end after their World Cup semifinal loss to England.
"If you can, if somebody can get there and break it down, and other people can then start copying it, the whole house of cards is going to come down. So you know it's just we need that person to come out of the woodwork and find the right players and the right system and then it's game on again," Muggleton says.
The future of Super Rugby will be without South Africa after their governing body elected to transfer the Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers to an expanded PRO16 tournament in Europe.
That, coupled with Rugby Australia's fury at NZR's hopes of a 2021 Super Rugby competition featuring all five Kiwi sides and just two to four Australian ones, paints a desolate future at the competition's exposure beyond our borders.
