Are the All Blacks too good for their own good?
Thursday 21 September 2017 14:23, UK
The All Blacks blew South Africa away in their Rugby Championship clash in Auckland over the weekend, running in eight tries to nil for a comprehensive 57-0 win.
The win puts them on course for their fifth Rugby Championship victory in six years, in fact out of the 20 titles played for so far, New Zealand have won 15 of them.
Michael Lynagh is full of praise for the All Blacks but he does have concerns over their dominance and wonders if it may damage the global game.
"First of all they are a great team and are to be admired," said the Wallaby legend on The Offload.
"They have given us a bench mark for every other country in the world to aim at.
"But I have always said that sport is the only business where a monopoly is not a good thing and I think the All Blacks are in danger of heading in that direction.
"I remember Steve Waugh's cricket team when they were beating everybody in three days and even Australians who love winning started to think that they were not going to go and it became monotonous and predictable.
"The All Blacks are heading that way - yes it is wonderful to watch but if they are beating everyone by 50 points it takes away from the game and people will stop going."
Lynagh is also quick to point out that Australia's rugby demise is also not good for the game and that New Zealand will be very concerned with the dwindling numbers across the Tasman sea.
"Australia have huge amounts of problems at the moment and New Zealand rugby won't be sitting there going 'they have problems isn't that good'," added Lynagh, who won the 1991 World Cup with Australia.
"Whether they like it or not, New Zealand are linked to Australia and if Australian rugby disappears and goes down to a level that is just not competitive any more, then that is a problem for New Zealand.
"They [New Zealand] would almost become like the Harlem Globetrotters - travelling around looking for someone to play.
"That is not what they want, they want a good competition. They want their supporters on the edge of their seats every time they go and watch them and not knowing what the result will be."
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