Rugby: Campo has go at All Blacks

SYDNEY - Now it's the turn of the All Blacks to suffer the poison pen of former Wallaby rugby player David Campese.

A constant critic of this year's Wallabies in his Sydney newspaper column, Campese yesterday wrote that complacency had "worked its way into the New Zealand bones" as the World Cup had progressed and their lack of a killer instinct was shown in the quarter-final win over Scotland.

"The Kiwis can talk up the Scottish performance all they like. The bottom line is they had the Scots on the rack and loosened the ropes, allowing a team of honest, hard-working players to outscore them 15-5 in the second half," Campese wrote in the Australian.

And, he said, the All Black scrum and lineout would not bother Australia if they met in the final, while Christian Cullen still seemed to be adjusting to his new position of centre.

"For mine, it even gives the French just the slightest ray of hope for their semifinal at Twickenham," he said.

Since the beginning of the tournament Campese has said the All Blacks were his favourites to win.

He raised the hackles of the Wallabies by appearing in a television advertisement in Australia wearing an All Black jersey and performing the haka to back up his convictions.

But his thoughts were now wavering as he compared the New Zealand side to the one who thrashed the Wallabies 43-6 at Athletic Park three years ago.

"The All Blacks had the leadership then of players like Sean Fitzpatrick and Zinzan Brooke. Players up front who set the tone for the rest of the side. They led, the others followed and that pair were never guilty of going easy on anyone," Campese said.

"The real worry for All Black coach John Hart is that a whiff of complacency within the ranks can be dangerous, because it eats away at a player's concentration.

"If one week he's on cruise control, and the next he has to be on top of his game for the entire 80 minutes, it's not always easy to make the adjustment."

Campese said he was interested to hear Fitzpatrick saying the New Zealand win over Scotland was a good one and that the team were going well.

"I wonder if the Kiwis might be kidding themselves a little." - NZPA