Rugby: England legend Martin Johnson still favours All Blacks to win World Cup

Martin Johnson. Photo / Photosport

The All Blacks may not be so dominant, but England legend Martin Johnson still thinks they will win the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

And while many people think that there are plenty of contenders to topple the defending champions, Johnson, who led England in the 2003 World Cup triumph, surprisingly does not sound overly impressed by Six Nations winners Wales.

"The All Blacks have been incredibly consistent for what seems like forever but all the rest of them, there's no guarantee that any of the other teams beat New Zealand on any given day," the former England lock told reporters.

"(All Black dominance is) maybe not as clear as they were last year, but I still think they're the team in front and the ones to beat."

Wales had their "noses in front" amongst the Six Nations contenders, but he said their 2019 Grand Slam win needed to be viewed in context six months out from the World Cup in Japan.

"I don't think there's any definites out of the Six Nations. England, Wales and Ireland are all pretty close to each other," said Johnson.

"The atmosphere in Cardiff when it gets going is very difficult to overcome and they were inspired.

"[But] the World Cup is six months away and in a neutral venue. It's a different thing."

Johnson, a former England coach, further downplayed the Six Nations result as a major World Cup pointer.

"England's performance against Ireland was probably the single most impressive performance of the tournament," he said.

"They then had a bad second half in Wales and blow a 31-point lead against Scotland.

"Wales were 16-0 down at halftime against France and won it on a pass that made you think 'goodness, don't throw that'.

"You can be the best team in the tournament and have a bad hour and a half and you're going home."

The All Blacks lost their invincible tag in 2018 after defeats to South Africa and Ireland, while Wales have now displaced Ireland as the world number two, but even despite that, Johnson doesn't think any team has sufficiently closed the gap on Steve Hansen's side.

But Southern Hemisphere teams have won seven of the eight World Cup tournaments and the All Blacks will be shooting for their third consecutive crown in Japan.