All Blacks great Zinzan Brooke believes the current New Zealand team are as good as any before them - but he hesitates to call Richie McCaw's side the best ever.
Monday's staggering last-gasp, come-from-behind two-point win over Ireland not only set a new professional era record for the All Blacks winning every game in a calendar year, but Brooke believes the team's also set new standards since winning the last World Cup.
The former No.8 says previous Cup winners couldn't stay on top or lift the standards, but the All Blacks have raised the crossbar and are "right up there" in terms of the best teams in history.
