John Eales - All Blacks are beatable

John Eales has offered the Wallabies plenty of hope against the All Blacks - but he was short on detail when it came to winning back the Bledisloe and succeeding in the World Cup.

Eales, a double World Cup winner, has one of the greatest modern-day records against the All Blacks, with 11 successes in 20 starts.

He dragged out the old line that "New Zealand are not unbeatable" and showed himself to be unafraid of the obvious in declaring "New Zealand are ahead of the others".

"But those others are all entirely capable of winning the (World Cup) themselves," he said.

Eales, an Australian rugby board member, also told Britain's Telegraph that a win in Saturday's Bledisloe Cup battle in Sydney would be a massive boost for their World Cup prospects.

"It is the huddle moment, that time just before kick-off when you gather yourselves together and feel confident in those around you...this Wallaby side can be confident in who they have in that huddle," said Eales.

"What they have not had is time together."

The famously nice-guy Wallaby legend put in a good word for his country's scrum, hoping it would get a fair hearing from referees.

"Our challenge is to change those perceptions of us, because when you are perceived to be the weaker, then the outcome can go against you," he said.

"I have no issue with a World Cup being decided by the achievements of a strong set-piece side but I do not want it to be decided by a lucky penalty at the scrum."