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| | Tuesday, 28 May, 2002, 13:05 GMT 14:05 UK All Blacks on World Cup crusade Marshall is one of 15 Crusaders in the All Blacks squad
All Blacks scrum-half Justin Marshall believes the Crusaders' Super 12 success can give New Zealand a perfect platform for World Cup glory. The Crusaders won the competition for the fourth time with a 31-13 win over Australia's ACT Brumbies on Saturday. That victory completed a record run which saw them become the first team to go through the entire campaign unbeaten. And their additional reward was the inclusion of 15 Canterbury players in the All Blacks squad which meets up on Wednesday.
Now Marshall believes he and his fellow Crusaders can build on their provincial success to re-establish New Zealand as the world's top Test team. Packing the national squad with Canterbury players, Marshall says, will allow the All Blacks to accelerate their development ahead of the 2003 World Cup. "It's got to help, combination-wise and just in the fact that the players know each other," he told BBC Sport Online. "That must help our understanding on the field and help us learn the team patterns and establish the right structure of play more quickly.
"We now have 17 Test matches before the World Cup and this is a really good opportunity to build a good team pattern and structure leading into the tournament. "The selectors know that and they have chosen this group of players with the World Cup in mind." New Zealand begin their international programme with Tests against Italy and what will be an injury-weakened Ireland side. And Marshall believes they will come through that series ready to reclaim the Tri-Nations title and the Bledisloe Cup from Australia. Last year's home and away defeats by the Wallabies came on the back of a Super 12 season in which, for the first time, no New Zealand team reached the semi-finals. But this term, both the Crusaders and the Otago Highlanders made it to the last four. And Marshall is convinced his country's Super 12 revival can have a knock-on effect for the Test team. "The Tri-Nations is always a difficult proposition because you've got home and away issues," he said. "We're at home against Australia and South Africa first, and - like in the Super 12 - it will be vital to win those before we go overseas. "But I think we can go well - and that we can establish the patterns that will win the World Cup." | |
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