‘It worried me’: The world knows the All Blacks ‘aren’t invincible’ anymore

The rest of the rugby world will believe that the “vulnerable” All Blacks “aren’t invincible” going into the upcoming Rugby World Cup, according to former New Zealand halfback Justin Marshall.

Playing in front of more than 80,000 people at Twickenham on Friday, and with millions around the world watching on from home, the All Blacks were dominated by rivals South Africa.

New Zealand were beaten in a way that nobody saw coming, and former All Black Justin Marshall later described the defeat as “worrying” ahead of rugby’s showpiece event.

But the All Blacks, as they’ve shown during an otherwise flawless run under coach Ian Foster in 2023, are “more than capable” of hoisting the Webb Ellis Cup in late October.

“Capability-wise and the way that we can play, I don’t think it’s a big problem,” Marshall said on The Platform.

“The bigger picture is the fact that this side, all of a sudden after one Test match, regardless of how disappointing the performance was, doesn’t become a poor side.

“They are more than capable of winning this Rugby World Cup should they find their feet again. At the moment they shouldn’t be hugely doubting themselves.”

The All Blacks’ disastrous display against the world champion Springboks saw them fall to their first defeat in five Tests this year.

New Zealand dominated the Springboks, as well as Los Pumas and the Wallabies, during a sensational Rugby Championship campaign last month. The All Blacks claimed that prestigious trophy, as well as the Freedom and Bledisloe Cups.

But that now infamous Test at Twickenham was a wakeup call that the New Zealanders may have needed before the World Cup. They lost, badly, and the world was watching.

“But I think the problem for them… the rest of the world are watching this game. It was the only game on a Friday night,” Marshall added.

“Every other international side that are looking at the All Blacks… were watching their performance, but they were watching, more importantly, what was frustrating the All Blacks in not allowing them to play. They were gathering information from it.

“They’re all of a sudden getting confidence that the All Blacks aren’t invincible, they are vulnerable.

“It worried me that there was no counter punch over 80 minutes at all, there was nothing.

“The South Africans actually put us into our shell that much that it’s encouraging for the rest of the world to go, ‘We can shut this team down.’

“On the other side of the foot though Marty, the All Blacks will be going, ‘Why did that happen to us?’

“Hopefully they’ll be better for it.”