KEY POINTS:
Australia play above themselves at World Cup time and this year they've got the team belief to win, said former Wallaby prop Ben Darwin.
"The last two times that we've been ranked number two, we've won it," Darwin said.
He said the All Blacks didn't find consistency in
their back-line in the Tri-Nations and the tactics of South Africa was disappointing.
"They have better cattle than the tactics that they used which was just kick to the corner and apply pressure," Darwin said.
Darwin said the All Blacks faltered when they were on attack against strong defence.
The All Blacks dropped a lot of ball and they "looked a little rattled in Melbourne", he said.
The Wallabies are the only team that can defend against the All Black's aggressive attack around the rucks and mauls, Darwin said.
"The Wallabies' defence was sound enough and I was excited about some of their attacking options," Darwin said.
But the major issue facing Australia is a lack of depth.
"If you take Larkham out and one or two of our line-out jumpers and maybe our centres, we could find ourselves in trouble. We just don't have the quality guys ready to replace them," Darwin said.
A positive for Australia is they are not under the same amount of pressure from their fans as the All Blacks, he said.
Darwin said in 2003 there was a strong feeling of self-belief in the Wallabies.
"When you run on the field, we're not going to leave anything on the sidelines," Darwin said.
But the feeling amongst the All Blacks that he talked to in 2002 and 2003 was in stark contrast.
"When ever I've heard All Blacks talk about playing for New Zealand, the words they say are: We were so terrified about losing, that was our biggest motivater," Darwin said.
He said in New Zealand, rugby is top-dog, unlike in Australia.
"We always say, if we joined the three codes together, we'd do alright," Darwin said.
He said whoever wins the semi-final on the Wallaby side of the draw will win the World Cup.
But after having watched the Tri-Nations, Darwin said Australia have got another World Cup victory up their sleeves.
He said there's a real belief in the team which is "massively" important.
"If you talk about getting to the finals and giving it a crack, it's simply not enough.
"England had a sense of destiny in 2003. They were too good, too old and they knew this would be the last opportunity for a lot of the guys,"
"New Zealand deserves to win the World Cup, they've been the better side for so long and at some stage of the game they will go to the World Cup, play to their potential and wipe everyone," Darwin said.
But it's not going to happen this year, he said.
"I haven't seen an All Blacks side, except in `87, have a sense of destiny about getting that tournament won."
Finals prediction
Australia versus France
Australia to win 27-17
Ben Darwin's Wallabies career
Born: October 17, 1976
Position: Tighthead prop
Debut: June 30, 2001
Caps: 28
YOUR PREDICTIONS
It's only weeks away from the Rugby World Cup and we want to hear your predictions of who will win. Who do you think will be in the final and what do you think the score will be?
We'll run your predictions online and you could be the winner by picking the right score.
The winner gets to the right to call themselves the Rugby Brain of New Zealand... and our sports team at nzherald.co.nz will also rustle up a prize for the most accurate prediction.
