Smith: World will catch up

All Blacks fans revelling in their team's flashy yet dominant test rugby season should enjoy it while it lasts, which won't be too much longer, according to assistant coach Wayne Smith.
New Zealand have racked up 249 points and 31 tries in just six outings, playing a compelling brand that saw them romp through the June tests and sit on the verge of securing both the Tri-Nations and Bledisloe Cup as early as mathematically possible against Australia  in Christchurch on Saturday.
The change of rule interpretations this year suit the All Blacks' attacking mantra, says Smith, who reckons his team got a jump-start on the rest of the world last year when they stuck stubbornly to a counter-attacking, expansive approach.
"The laws more or less played into our hands," he said. "We did a lot of work on it [last season] and we got a bit of an advantage because we were swimming against the current by trying to play a ball-in-hand game."
However, he is wary leading nations would soon adopt the same methods, pointing to the comments of French coach Marc Lievremont, who this week said they would model their game on the All Blacks.
"I guess that's what coaches do. They look for teams that are performing well," Smith said.
"We get a lot of our innovations through looking at the way the game is played [in the Super 14], take the best out of it and then try to put it together as the total package.
"But I think everyone will catch up and we'll see the game evolve again ... maybe there will be a lot of work on defensive lines and chasing lines."
Smith scotched suggestions other nations lack players with the necessary athleticism and attacking gifts to match this year's All Blacks.
He said South Africa showcased the best offensive players in this year's Super 14 while Australia had a massive base of natural athletes, who were spread through various sporting codes.
"We're in a good position but I'm sure other teams would feel they've got the capabilities. You've just got to pick the right people to play that sort of game."
Age hasn't stopped the All Blacks maintaining their heart-busting style.
The back three of Mils Muliaina, Joe Rokocoko and Cory Jane is the oldest combined since Alan Hewson, Stu Wilson and Bernie Fraser played their last test together in 1983 while the starting XV from Melbourne was New Zealand's fourth oldest in 464 tests.
The coaches have deliberately altered their training structure to cope with increased physical demands and had noticed the players starting to recover more quickly post-Saturday.
"Clearly we're in our first season of this sort of amount of play but with the way we're playing and our conditioning regime, I think we're getting better and better at it."
Smith reiterated that the All Blacks' standards had slipped since the win over South Africa in Auckland on July 10 and believed the players would be motivated by that. There was an intrinsic desire to keep performing at a high level from a team featuring few players raw at test level, aside from those on the reserve bench.
"We've got a lot of great players who have been through experiences - good and bad - who are great leaders for us," Smith said.
"A lot of them have had some really good times but a couple of dark times as well. If you've got a shadow, that's something that can really push you down the track. ...  We've got a lot of players who want to be successful and have a lot of will."
 NZPA