Henry, Carter and McCaw welcome expectations

Some may regard them as the holy trinity of All Blacks rugby, and coach Graham Henry, captain Richie McCaw and first five-eighth Dan Carter are all looking forward to the pressure and expectation of hosting the Rugby World Cup.

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Since winning the inaugural tournament in 1987, the All Blacks have fallen short in the last five tournaments, including registering their earliest ever exit in France, the first time New Zealand hasn’t at least reached the semi-finals.

Notable is the fact that this time round, in the seventh quadrennial tournament, is that the coach and captain will get a second chance, something that hasn’t happened in the history of the All Blacks and Rugby World Cup.

Certainly there could not be a more illustrious trio to break a 20-year World Cup drought.

Henry has lost just 15 test matches since taking the reigns in 2004, winning a remarkable 81 internationals to boast a near 85 percent winning record.

McCaw, the most capped All Blacks captain (with the best winning percentage) played in his 98th test match against the Wallabies, and is generally regarded as arguably the best openside flanker to play the game, with his three International Rugby Board World Player of the Year awards (including last seasons) better than any other player alive.

While Carter rounds out the trio as the highest point’s scorer in test match rugby with 1,219 points (as well as being the highest scorer in Investec Super Rugby) and has played 83 test matches.

Since the last World Cup, the All Blacks have won two Investec Tri Nations, kept their iron grip on the Bledisloe Cup intact, claimed two Grand Slam tours, while winning 39 of 48 test matches.

However despite their reputations and records, they will all be ultimately judged on whether or not they can claim rugby’s greatest prize.

McCaw said that the pressure the All Blacks will face at the World Cup would be the same irrespective of where it is played, but was happy it was being staged on home soil.

"Wherever the World Cup is, it's the same sort of pressure," McCaw said.

"I think it's just exciting. If you are going to choose all the places to play a World Cup, you're going to choose your home country. That's the way I look at it.

"It's not an easy thing to win so we are going to have to do it right. But to have your friends and family and fans to get a feel of it, too, will be pretty special."

Carter felt that while it was a intense environment, having local support made up for the extra pressure of trying to win the Webb Ellis Cup.

"The excitement of the support we have in New Zealand far exceeds the pressure and expectation," he said.

"That's why we just love playing in New Zealand.

"To have something like the World Cup in our own backyard is great and I know the players can't wait for it."

Henry has never sidestepped the pressure of being All Blacks coach, saying that the intense expectation and legacy of the team is what enabled their great success.

"One of the special qualities of New Zealand rugby is the expectations of the New Zealand public, and I don't think there is any greater expectation in rugby than the expectations on the All Blacks," Henry said.

"That's why they have been so successful. They are the most successful side in the history of professional sport and that's something we should be very proud of. "What happens in the next eight weeks is going to define this team."

While Henry agreed that losing back-to-back test matches wasn’t ideal, he paid homage to the fact that in sports, teams often learnt more in defeat than they did with victories.

"Hopefully if there was any complacency in this group, it's well gone now,” he said.