Lee Stensness: Skills set Southern men apart

Very few enjoy maths without a calculator at the best of times, let alone on a Sunday morning. Fortunately the calculation is fairly straightforward: (3-0) + (41-3) = a yawning gap in skill level.

This is not a maths problem - it is a problem for British rugby. The 3-0 refers to the 2005 Lions series result, while the 41-3 refers to last weekend's win over Wales, Six Nations champions. The yawning gap in skill level is evident from player 1 to player 22, where the All Blacks as individuals seem more skilful and athletic.

There can be many excuses made on behalf of those teams for the one-sided nature of those defeats, such as injuries, lack of preparation time and the length of the British rugby season. However, the underlying reason the All Blacks have won so convincingly is that across the board our players are more multi-skilled than those from Britain.

This has been the case for a long time, allowing for periods like the 70s, with glorious Welsh and Lions backlines, and the Martin Johnson England era where those from the North have won the battle up front and thus some important matches.

In general, it is a fair statement to make that New Zealand players are generally more skilful than those from Britain. But in the past, those from Britain were often more proficient at the fundamental skills of rugby such as kicking and set pieces. Now that the All Blacks have re-established, at worst, parity at set pieces, the full range of skills that the whole team possess can be more readily displayed.

Having played in the Northern Hemisphere for three seasons in the Heineken Cup, the equivalent of the Super 14, I believe the primary reason for the gap in skill level is that our players are used to an expansive game, where all players are required to have good general skills, and therefore have become adept at it. Whereas those from Britain are not used to an expansive style of rugby.

Although the desire to play an expansive style is an attitude or a mindset, both sets of players are products of their environments.

The contrast between a Friday night Heineken Cup game in Belfast in December - where it will be cold, wet and windy - and a Friday night Super 14 game in Sydney in March - where it will be warm and dry - could not be more stark.

You don't have to be Fred Allen to work out which style of play suits and is more likely to succeed in which competition. The winter in Britain is longer and harsher but then they are not historically noted for their expansive style of rugby, either.

The old criticism of the Super 12 was that it lacked substance at set piece. That may have been the case but no longer.

Now New Zealand forward play has caught up at set piece, the superior all-round skills of all the players give them a marked advantage. Even when it is wet, cold and windy.