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Laurie Mains says the All Blacks deserve sympathy and support after their shock loss to France yesterday.
"These players took to the field and they tried their hardest," the former All Blacks coach said.
Mains said both the All Blacks and Wallabies, who also suffered a shock loss to England, had been caught out by teams that had shown "absolutely nothing" all year.
"And all of a sudden they've turned on the game of their lives," he said.
Mains, who was coach when New Zealand lost to South Africa in the 1995 cup final, said the French front row proved a physical match for the All Blacks from the start.
"As the game wore on, they [also] got more and more belief in their defence, and the second half, their defence was really heroic."
He believed the All Blacks had suffered by not playing enough together as a team and said "a real evaluation" of preparation for major tournaments was needed.
He would not comment on how preparation should change, but said he had expected the team to make the final.
He doubted England and France would play as well against each other next week, but said it was not a given that South Africa would win the cup.
"In normal circumstances, you could've said that, but just seeing what's happened to the All Blacks and what's happened to Australia, I'd be a bit tentative about making any predictions.
"Both of these are real shocks. France and England have won when they shouldn't have."
