Thursday 30 August 2018 18:11, UK
Stuart Barnes believes New Zealand are "one of the great sports teams of all time" and that the level of performance they set is positive for the game.
Since Rugby World Cup 2015, the All Blacks have a success rate of 90 per cent and they commenced their recent Rugby Championship campaign with consecutive emphatic victories over Australia.
"I think that they are one of the great sports teams of all time," said Barnes on the new episode of Will Greenwood's Rugby Podcast.
"If you don't believe that and you look at their win record then you have to come to the conclusion that the rest of the international world is terrible.
"Now I know that there's one or two former coaches who are of that opinion but I look at it and I just think that New Zealand are just beating the hell out of everyone else."
The hold that the All Blacks have over their opponents prompts the question to be asked whether or not such dominance it is good for the sport?
"It's great for the game," added Barnes. "If you think that it's bad that you have an exceptional team, then you're taking a very negative view on life.
"It's up to England, Ireland, France, South Africa and Australia to catch them. What you don't want to see, in any tournament or in any sport, is a league or a championship where it's really tight at the end but it's tight because there's no-one exceptional.
"In the sport you want to have that quality. New Zealand provide it in a way that nobody else does and they set the target for them."
Greenwood also supports the perspective that a high-flying Kiwi outfit is positive for world rugby.
"I think a side being that good, what it does is it lifts the bar and creates a vacuum underneath, and it's a race to fill that vacuum and that slot to get into the slipstream behind them. It pushes teams to search even further," said the World Cup winner.
One key feature that stemmed from both of New Zealand's Rugby Championship victories over Australia was exceptional performances from their lock Brodie Retallick.
"I remember talking to Eddie Jones last year," said Greenwood. "I asked him if he could take one player from New Zealand who would it be?
"He didn't think for a nanosecond, Retallick came bouncing and booming back at me, such are his [the lock's] levels."
Retallick made his Test debut against Ireland in 2012 and has since amassed 70 caps and Barnes' praise for the forward moved up a notch.
"To me, Barrett gets four tries but at the moment the best player in the world all around would be Brodie Retallick. Once again New Zealand have got five or six guys who are all at that world-class level, guys who just dominate a match."
In the five Test matches that the All Blacks have played this year, they have averaged just a five-point lead at half-time. By full time, that lead has extended out to 28 points and our Sky Sports Analysts don't believe that the shift is purely down to them having superior fitness levels.
"I think it's a red herring, the fitness thing," said Barnes on the podcast.
"One side of the rugby world has looked to the gym and looked to get bigger and stronger. New Zealand, when you look at them, they're no bigger than when I was playing. People like Aaron Smith, Conrad Smith in his prime wasn't a big guy and even Retallick.
"He's [Retallick] tall but there's nothing huge about him. But they're athletes and they're athletes that have an innate understanding of the game.
"You see these daft mistakes in their 22 but Barrett then scoops the ball up one-handed, throws a 30-metre pass out of his left hand and they kick it to touch and start again.
"No other team could get away with what they try and do because the skills of the individuals bail them out time and again."
The question is, which side will have the ability and game to topple Steve Hansen's men? In Greenwood's mind there's a top contender right now.
"I think that the closest team that could possibly stop them are Ireland and that will be a cracking fixture the week after England play them."
Before that point New Zealand will meet Argentina and South Africa as the Rugby Championship continues, live on Sky Sports, and have a final Bledisloe Cup meeting with Australia.
In November, they have their 'Northern Tour' and their matches against England and Ireland will be book-ended by encounters against Japan and Italy.
During that time, and as the season continues as a whole, it remains to be seen if the gap closes between the top ranked side and the rest, or, if it widens.
