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Former Wallabies captain and hooker Phil Kearns has joined a lineup of Australian rugby identities claiming the All Blacks have passed their peak before the World Cup has even begun.
Whether it's a planned orchestration to try to upset the New Zealanders or wishful thinking across the Tasmas, Australia is the second nation to start a psychological war with the All Blacks in the leadup to next month's Cup in France.
French coach Bernard Laporte, who is to be the next sports minister of his country after the Cup, recently questioned New Zealand's drug-testing commitment in the sport.
The All Blacks are strong favourites to win the Cup but the Australians suspect the All Blacks have misjudged their timing.
Kearns, who played in the Wallaby teams that won the 1991 and 1999 World Cups, said the All Blacks had been on the slide for the past year and a half.
"I think New Zealand peaked 18 months ago when they played the British Lions and they have not played as well since that time," Kearns said at Wednesday's farewell luncheon for the Wallabies in Sydney.
"I think they're starting to worry. They're asking themselves some questions and I think they seriously could get beaten."
New Zealand won the inaugural World Cup in 1987 but have failed to win the title since, despite starting among the favourites each time.
Former coach Rod Macqueen, who masterminded Australia's 1999 victory when the All Blacks lost to France in an extraordinary semifinal, said he thought the current New Zealand team were showing signs of being one-dimensional.
"One of the things that probably might be their Achilles heel is do they have a Plan B or a Plan C because I've only seen them play one way," Macqueen said.
"The greatest competitive edge Australia has got is that they have a very strong mind over the New Zealanders... they're not scared of them and they've shown that in the games they've played.
"They've already beaten them once this year and if you're looking for a competitive edge then yeah, we're looking very good."
The Wallabies 1991 coach Bob Dwyer was the first to fire the shot, saying he believed the All Blacks were on a slide after peaking last year.
While New Zealand's past four World Cup campaigns have ended in failure, the Wallabies have developed a habit of recovering from seemingly disastrous form slumps to peak during World Cups.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard, who officially bade farewell to the team, said he had a feeling history was going to repeat itself when the sixth World Cup begins on September 7.
"No one is pretending that this is going to be easy but the great thing about Australian rugby teams, indeed the great thing about all Australian sporting teams, is that no matter what adversity they might encounter they never give up," Howard said.
"This team is coming good at the right time with the right momentum."
- REUTERS
