Future Focus

The “All Blacks [are] looking good, and that’s a problem” headlines a New York Times story profiling the team ahead of the 211 Rugby World Cup. Despite all the team’s previous upsets, New Zealand has entered every World Cup tournament as the raging favourite. And in a little less than 12 months, when the seventh edition returns to New Zealand shores for the first time since 1987, the All Blacks will once again be heavily favoured to take the crown. While captain Richie McCaw is adamant the team is not peaking too early — and the last-gasp wins against the Wallabies and Springboks in the past month prove there is room for improvement — Grant Fox, who was the leading points scorer at the 1987 tournament, remains cautious. “Those of us who have watched the All Blacks for a long time are perhaps just enjoying the moment now, and we’ll worry about next year next year,” Fox says. “I don’t think we want to read too much into it because history tells us we shouldn’t.”