Rugby World Cup 2015: All Blacks handed hidden head start

The All Blacks are given a head-start in development compared to other rugby nations. Photo / Brett Phibbs

One of the All Blacks' secrets remains a mystery and unquantifiable to even them. It's the hidden force of being the only country in the world where rugby is the national sport.

The benefits of that are largely intangible but unquestionably significant. Even as the sporting programs in most New Zealand schools diversify, rugby still commands hearts as much as it does minds. The lure of the First XV remains magnetic in a way perhaps being in the elite swim squad never will.

School cultures are still, consciously or not, driven by the unwritten premise that young men in New Zealand should play rugby. The idolisation of the First XV in traditional boys schools gives out both overt and subliminal messages that there is something heroic and almost patriotic about aspiring to be an All Black.

The growing commercial and media profile of leading All Blacks endorses this notion of rugby as a game for noble warriors.

And aspiration is a critical part of success. The benefit is three fold: the scale of rugby's pervasive marketing is such that it ensures the sport still has the first pick of the best athletes.

Secondly, the strength of the desire within those athletes is strong as typically it is embedded from an early age. There's hardly been an All Black who only hit on the goal later in life. Even allowing for the poetic licence, it is mostly true that All Blacks can trace the origins of their dream back as far as their first rational thoughts.

Thirdly, and maybe crucially, there is the breadth and quality of the rugby education available. There is valid intellectual capital everywhere: and every young Kiwi has in their head at least one rock solid piece of advice that will serve them well throughout their rugby career.

Be it from a father, uncle, family friend or teacher, there's always good advice being imparted. Then there is the vocational aspect - the amount that can be absorbed from watching a game that is played nationwide and heavily broadcast.

Put all this together and add in the fact most Kiwis kids will have a rugby ball in their hands at some point each day and the outcome is players reaching the professional ranks with advanced skills and innate tactical knowledge.