Former All Blacks captain Sean Fitzpatrick. Photo / Getty Images.
Former All Blacks captain Sean Fitzpatrick. Photo / Getty Images.
Former All Blacks captain Sean Fitzpatrick believes that while the All Blacks are in good stead heading into the 2019 World Cup in Japan, he sees Scotland as a genuine threat at the tournament in two years time.
Speaking at a charity event in St Andrews, Scotland, the 92-test legend said he was impressed at both the depth of talent throughout New Zealand rugby, as well as the development of fringe and back up players within the All Blacks squad.
"I think the All Blacks are in pretty good shape," Fitzpatrick said.
"The last 12 months they've lost three games, which is pretty unusual for us. But I think they'll be pretty happy in terms of the calibre of player that wasn't involved in the autumn and during the Rugby Championship.
"We had two young props who have now had real game time, Damian McKenzie's come in and impressed, Codie Taylor's played a lot of rugby at hooker this year."
Fitzpatrick also reserved praise for Beauden Barrett's test performances throughout 2017, two days after the first-five-eighth won his second consecutive World Rugby Men's Player of the Year gong in Monaco.
Sean Fitzpatrick believes Beauden Barrett was a worthy recipient of the 2017 World Rugby Men's Player of the Year award. Photo / Getty Images.
"Beauden Barrett won World Player of the Year and probably didn't play as well as he did last year," he said.
"But if you had to select one player, I still think he was still ahead. Stuart Hogg is a fine player and Owen Farrell had an outstanding year, he's an influential player.
"But if you were honest and knocking down any bias and were looking for one player who had been the best, you'd probably pick Beauden Barrett."
The 54-year-old went on to state that Scotland had surprised him during the end-of-year internationals, with the world's sixth-placed side implementing an attacking style of play under new coach Gregor Townsend in their three-match schedule.
The Scots began their November tests with a free-flowing 44-38 win over Samoa, before falling just shy of a historic win over the All Blacks a week later, going down 22-17 in a thrilling contest at Murrayfield.
Their 2017 season concluded with a record 53-24 win over the Wallabies in Edinburgh - the largest-ever victory registered by the Scots against Australia.
Such compelling outings by Townsend's side forced Fitzpatrick to re-consider which sides will pose the biggest threat to the All Blacks heading into the 2019 World Cup.
"I was asked before the autumn internationals what I thought were the major threats to the All Blacks for the World Cup in 2019, and I said it would come from the north, but I thought Ireland and England would be the chief ones," Fitzpatrick said.
"I didn't really expect Scotland to come on like they did, they played superbly, and it was a great test match at Murrayfield two weeks ago.
"They played well against the All Blacks but the big challenge for them was whether they could play well the next week, properly kick on, and they did against Australia. It shows they're definitely going in the right direction and they have a real attitude about them."
Scotland impressed during the November internationals under the tutelage of new head coach Gregor Townsend (left). Photo / Photosport.
Fitzpatrick suggested that the appointment of Townsend as head coach was imperative to Scotland's recent success.
He said Townsend's willingness to apply an attacking and expansive game plan, as well as crafty squad selections, allowed Scotland to play to the best of their abilities.
"What we see is the good coaches are not surprisingly producing the best teams. Gregor took over a very good team from Vern Cotter, but I think he's lifted the level further in terms of their commitment, just the clear enthusiasm the team have to play the game.
"We saw that against Samoa, they scored a lot of tries but also leaked a lot of tries, and defence is mostly an attitude thing. But they've sorted that out now.
"A lot of the Scots' players I'd never heard of. That's the key I suppose. We talk a lot at the moment about being mid-cycle, with the World Cup two years away, so now's the time to be growing the squad.
"England has to do that through injuries and the All Blacks have done the same really. We used 55 players this year, which is a huge number for us."
Fitzpatrick predicted a thrilling Six Nations in early 2018, which will see Scotland challenge powerhouses England and Ireland for their first title since 1999.
"It's going to be one of the most competitive championships for many years."
