A debate arose recently over who ranks as the greatest international team of all time. This is a question of interest for anyone concerned with rugby history, and whilst can not offer much knowledge on the greats of the amateur era, can offer an analysis of the greats of professional era history having followed it closely and have scrutinised each sides record to list the top 10.
Note: when a particular era of a team starts and ends can be debated as no clear answer, but in 21st century it tends to often revolve around four year World Cup cycles where a side is often revamped afterwards and replaces a few retirements (like the wave of junior world champions that joined the All Blacks in 2012), but it can also occur as starting with new coaching and captaincy (like Erasmus and Siya Kolisi in 2018), or a particularly key selection call in a pivotal position that changed the course of the side (like Rod Macqueen moving Larkham from 15 to 10 in 1998 or Graham Henry retiring Andrew Mehrtens and Carlos Spencer to back a young Dan Carter in 2004)
Also note: This list only includes sides who have definitely completed an era. As we don't know for certain yet whether in 2024 the current great Ireland and France teams will significantly revamp their squads or not it is hard to say whether the recent World Cup was end of an era for each group. Both have a good chance of ending up somewhere in the top 10 but hard to place them until can properly analyse their triumphs and failures retrospectively.
1.
New Zealand 2012–20152012 started a fresh All Black era under Steve Hansen with six future 50+ cap players in Brodie Retallick, Julian Savea, Aaron Smith, Sam Cane, Beauden Barrett, Charlie Faumuina, and Dane Coles all making their international debuts that calendar year. Also Ben Smith returned to the team much like a new cap having previously played just one solitary game against Italy back in 2009.
These were some of the star products of five consecutive years worth of World Champion Kiwi junior teams between 2007 and 2011 and supplemented the veterans of the previous highly successful Graham Henry years in Richie McCaw, Dan Carter, Ma'a Nonu, Conrad Smith, Keven Mealamu, and Tony Woodcock, as well as the likes of Kieran Read and Jerome Kaino.
It was an almost perfect mix of vast experience and fresh faces and over the four years they displayed a remarkable level of consistency and dominance losing just 3 out of 54 matches (one of those was only when the squad was badly hit by norovirus in England, and another only from a late 55 metre Pat Lambie penalty in a two point game in Johannesburg).
They beat all the major teams multiple times home and away, became the first side since 1996/97 to record back to back home and away unbeaten Rugby Championship campaigns, and unlike some previous All Black teams did not peak between World Cups but capped off a superb four years with a brilliant tournament in 2015 to send McCaw, Carter, Nonu, Smith, Woodcock, and Mealamu all into international retirement as champions.
If you were going to make the case for a different team as number one you could perhaps note that South Africa after the 2011 World Cup had several players like Victor Matfield, Fourie du Preez, Schalk Burger, and Jaque Fourie absent or past their prime and who were difficult to replace immediately. So there was not quite a big rival of the same calibre that some others on this list like Graham Henry's teams between 2005 to 2011 had to face.
However equally a large part of the reason there was not such a rival was also simply because this group will go down as so historically great. They lined up in their opening match at the 2015 World Cup with an incredible 13 either current or future 80+ cap players in the starting XV (the only two who weren't were the wingers Savea and Nehe Milner-Skudder both in form of their lives). It will take a truly amazing side in the future to ever make a good case of beating this All Blacks era in discussions of greatest of all time.
Typical starting XV: 1 Tony Woodcock, 2 Dane Coles, 3 Owen Franks, 4 Brodie Retallick, 5 Sam Whitelock, 6 Jerome Kaino, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 8 Kieran Read, 9 Aaron Smith, 10 Dan Carter, 11 Julian Savea, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 13 Conrad Smith, 14 Ben Smith (later Nehe Milner-Skudder with Smith moving to 15 instead of Dagg), 15 Israel Dagg
Record over the period: Played 54, Won 49, Drawn 2, Lost 3 (win rate: 91%)
Major achievements: Rugby World Cup, Rugby Championship x 3 (x 2 undefeated), highest win rate of any team over a four year cycle in the professional era
2.
New Zealand 1996–19971996 had similar parallels with 2012 as coach John Hart took over a side with an already great legendary old guard of greats such as Sean Fitzpatrick, Michael Jones, Zinzan Brooke and Frank Bunce who were supplemented by a younger group in Jonah Lomu, Christian Cullen, Justin Marshall, Josh Kronfeld, and Andrew Mehrtens who all emerged roughly around a similar time.
The result was one of the most formidable lineups assembled in rugby history. They won back to back Tri Nations unbeaten home and away (a feat not replicated again until the All Blacks of 2012 and 2013), which included a 43-6 thrashing of the Wallabies in 1996 in what was regarded as one of the greatest ever performances in soaking wet conditions, and becoming the first ever side to put over 50 points on the Springboks at Eden Park in 1997 who at that point still had never once ever conceded more than 35 in game.
The only game in 22 they lost over this period was the 3rd test dead rubber at Ellis Park at the end of a historic first away series win in South Africa (a huge deal at the time as prior to the RWC and idea of four year cycles taking off so much over the course of the pro era winning this series was considered essentially the crowning of an unofficial World Champion).
If you were going to make an argument for a legend packed team with the dominance and consistency to rank closely alongside the 2012-2015 All Blacks for all time great status this would be it. However it has to be marked slightly down as whilst it was spectacular this era lasted about only half as long as others on this list. In 1998 Fitzpatrick, Zinzan Brooke, Bunce, Walter Little, Michael Jones all retired, Olo Brown suffered a career ending neck injury, and Lomu was hit by illness. So with almost half the side gone they dipped badly in 1998, and although always remained a strong contender with a star studded backline, did not get another pack ready to recover their dominant world #1 spot for another 6 or 7 years.
Typical starting XV: 1 Craig Dowd, 2 Sean Fitzpatrick (c), 3 Olo Brown, 4 Ian Jones, 5 Robin Brooke, 6 Michael Jones, 7 Josh Kronfeld, 8 Zinzan Brooke, 9 Justin Marshall, 10 Andrew Mehrtens, 11 Jonah Lomu, 12 Walter Little, 13 Frank Bunce, 14 Jeff Wilson, 15 Christian Cullen
Record over the period: Played 22, Won 20, Drawn 1, Lost 1 (win rate: 91%)
Major achievements: Tri Nations x 2 (x 2 undefeated), 3 match test series win away in South Africa
New Zealand 2004–2007This All Blacks era could be said to start in November 2004. After a disappointing first Tri Nations campaign Graham Henry reset the side. Most notable change was to end the international careers of Andrew Mehrtens and Carlos Spencer and give the keys to number 10 to a young 22 year old future all time great Dan Carter, with another in the then still 23 year old Richie McCaw (who missed that year's Tri Nations) taking on a more senior leadership role as vice-captain.
Over the next three years they went onto dominate world rugby with a 90% win rate but what was most notable was the quality of rugby and significant margins they tended to win by. It felt they were taking the sport up a level from anything like seen before.
They won 11 from 11 of their November tour games in Europe with the leading European team of the period France, who won three Six Nations titles in four years, getting dispatched 45-6 (2004) and 47-3 (2006) in their own back yard. Wales were also thrashed 41-3 in Cardiff in the year of their Grand Slam (2005), England took a 41-20 beating at Twickenham (2006), and they beat Ireland in Dublin 45-7 (2005) even whilst heavily rotating their team. They also of course comprehensively wiped the floor with Clive Woodward's Lions (average score 35-13 over 3 tests), and won back to back Tri Nations titles.
However this All Black era ended up the nearly but not quite version of the 2012-2015 one. They could have finished with a very similar record (which was quite a feat as they were contemporaneous with a stronger Springboks side with the likes of Os du Randt, Victor Matfield, Schalk Burger, Fourie du Preez, Bryan Habana, Percy Montgomery among others as well as stronger Australian and French teams) but for a couple of notable chokes.
One being a Rodney So'oialo meltdown in a one point game in Rustenberg which cost them a 100% perfect winning year in 2006, something the later All Blacks achieved when they recovered from their early shaky moments against Ireland in Dublin 2013.
But more famously at the 2007 World Cup after crushing their pool with a +274 points difference, and looking good with a 13-3 half time lead on course to cementing their status as one of the greatest teams in the sport's history, they choked in the second half against France (a side they had beaten five times in the previous three years). Again, something the later All Blacks rectified in their Northern Hemisphere World Cup campaign where they kept their nerve when it got tight in the semi final against South Africa on the way to winning in 2015.
Those couple of blips knock their legacy down a level from what it could have been and below the 2012-2015 All Blacks. But still the dominance and quality of rugby this side achieved should see it remembered as one the very greatest sides of all time even in spite of their choke.
Typical starting XV: 1 Tony Woodcock, 2 Keven Mealamu, 3 Carl Hayman, 4 Chris Jack, 5 Ali Williams, 6 Jerry Collins, 7 Richie McCaw, 8 Rodney So'oialo, 9 Byron Kelleher, 10 Dan Carter, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 12 Aaron Mauger or Luke McAlister, 13 Tana Umaga (c) (later Muliaina with Leon MacDonald at 15), 14 Joe Rokocoko or Doug Howlett, 15 Mils Muliaina
Record over the period: Played 40, Won 36, Lost 4 (win rate 90%)
Major achievements: Tri Nations x 2, 3-0 Lions series win by most dominant margin in history, 11/11 November tour wins vs 6 Nations opponents away from home by an average 28 point margin
Australia 1998–2001Rod Macqueen took over the Wallabies in late 1997 following their poor Tri Nations campaign. His time in charge got off to a slow start later that November, but it was the following year in 1998 in a 76-0 thrashing of England with a revamped side that really kickstarted a historic Wallabies era.
That game featured the inspired call to switch Stephen Larkham from 15 to 10 to form a legendary partnership with George Gregan, Toutai Kefu ousting fellow Tongan born 8 Willie Ofahengaue, Daniel Herbert replacing Jason Little to partner Tim Horan, plus the return from long injury of Matt Burke. That team then stayed largely intact for the next three years (with only really big changes Tim Horan's retirement and a young dreadlocked George Smith emerging onto the scene in 2000/2001).
The other notable change in 1998 was the arrival of John Muggleton, a trendsetter of League coaches becoming specialist defensive gurus in Union. This team brought defence into the modern era and on the way to winning the 1999 World Cup conceded just one try (against USA in a 55-19 win) which is a record that may never get beaten.
After narrowly missing out on the Tri Nations title in 1999 due to a one point away loss to South Africa (a defeat they would avenge later that year in the World Cup semi final), they also won back to back titles in 2000 and 2001 with a late Kefu try against New Zealand ending the era and sending captain John Eales into retirement with a brimming trophy cabinet.
This side's other big achievements included a 2-1 win over the British & Irish Lions, which was the best modern Lions series win by a host given much of their opponents were made up of England's 2003 greats in their prime, plus the likes of an on form Brian O'Driscoll, Keith Wood, and Scott Quinnell. Whilst their run of 7 wins from 9 games against New Zealand over the period is the greatest any side has ever had against the All Blacks in the history of the sport and included in 1999 what was until recently the record win over them (28-7).
There is a case to rate this Wallabies team in the top three of the professional era. Unlike the All Blacks in 2007 they delivered at the 1999 World Cup which they rounded off with the largest margin of victory ever in the final against France (35-12). However albeit in a competitive period they did drop more games than others in this top five list so are just below.
Typical starting XV: 1 Richard Harry, 2 Phil Kearns (later Michael Foley), 3 Andrew Blades, 4 David Giffin (later Justin Harrison), 5 John Eales (c), 6 Owen Finegan or Matt Cockbain, 7 David Wilson (later George Smith), 8 Toutai Kefu, 9 George Gregan, 10 Stephen Larkham, 11 Joe Roff, 12 Tim Horan, 13 Daniel Herbert, 14 Ben Tune, 15 Matt Burke or Chris Latham
Record over the period: Played 43, Won 34, Drawn 1, Lost 8 (win rate 79%)
Major achievements: Rugby World Cup won conceding just one try, Tri Nations x 2, 7-2 record over All Blacks, Lions series win
5. 
England 2000–2003
England 2000–2003The start of this England era began after being brutally knocked out by Jannie de Beer's drop goals at the 1999 World Cup (you could argue it started slightly earlier just before the World Cup in 1999 when Martin Johnson first took over as captain as core of the side was still quite similar even if a few additions were to come).
They won three Six Nations titles in this period, although despite largely dominating the competition they would oddly slip up away from home in a Grand Slam game multiple times, until they finally got one in convincing fashion 42-6 away against Ireland in Dublin. That 2003 Grand Slam with an average score of 35-9 remains the most dominant in Six Nations history (and they had actually been even more dominant the previous couple of years before getting unstuck in the Grand Slam game).
Starting in June 2000 they also went on a historic 12 match winning streak against SANZAR opposition which culminated in their World Cup triumph against Australia in 2003. Their 42 wins from 47 is the highest win rate of any side other than the 2012-15 All Blacks across an entire four year cycle in the professional era. All those five defeats were tight within 6 points or less and away from home.
However those lost Grand Slams do hurt their record and include upset defeats to Scotland and Ireland teams who were at that point a step below the sort of teams others among the top six this list ever lost to. Although it could also be noted those sides at home would be more pumped to up their game significantly to face England.
Their best form also came in context of 2002/03 being a period of highly unusual collective SANZAR frailty. South Africa were a shambolic team like never before. New Zealand were blooding a lot of new names (England's 31-28 November 2002 win featured a host of single digit cap All Blacks like Joe McDonnell, Sam Broomhall, Keith Lowen, Ben Blair, Brad Mika, Danny Lee, Mark Robinson who will not rank among their most illustrious names, and whilst their 15-13 June 2003 away win featured some names who would turn out to be far greater they were then only youngsters in their first few caps). Whilst post-John Eales/Tim Horan Australia were in a transition period following their own golden era (and although they did get a win over the great Australia team via a disputed try in the last play of the game in November 2000 that was with the iconic Gregan/Larkham half back pairing both injured).
If the World Cup had happened only a year later you suspect this England side may have struggled against the sort of talent that would later form the 2004-2007 All Blacks. Indeed their decline from this era after Martin Johnson retired and Jonny Wilkinson got injured was sharp and they got wiped out when they toured in 2004. So for these reasons, the Australian win in the late part of their era over much of England's best on the 2001 Lions tour, and the fact the All Blacks sides above them would never come close to losing to sides of the level of Scotland in 2000 they remain narrowly outside the top three on the list.
Typical starting XV: 1 Trevor Woodman, Jason Leonard, or Graham Rowntree, 2 Steve Thompson (earlier Phil Greening), 3 Phil Vickery, 4 Martin Johnson (c), 5 Ben Kay (earlier Danny Grewcock), 6 Richard Hill, 7 Neil Back, 8 Lawrence Dallaglio, 9 Matt Dawson, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 11 Ben Cohen, 12 Mike Tindall (earlier Mike Catt), 13 Will Greenwood, 14 Jason Robinson, 15 Josh Lewsey (earlier Matt Perry or Iain Balshaw)
Record over the period: Played 47, Won 42, Lost 5 (win rate 89%)
Major achievements: Rugby World Cup, Six Nations x 3 (x 1 Grand Slam by most dominant margin in history), 12 match winning streak vs SANZAR
New Zealand 2008–2011After the 2007 choke Graham Henry just about survived in charge of the All Blacks to rebuild the side after several departures to Europe (Carl Hayman, Jerry Collins, Byron Kelleher, Chris Jack, Luke McAlister, Aaron Mauger, Greg Somerville, Doug Howlett, Chris Masoe, Nick Evans). Back came Brad Thorn back from Rugby League whilst Ma'a Nonu and Conrad Smith came together to form one of the greatest centre partnerships in the history of the sport.
A theme of the period was constant worry over any injury to Dan Carter, which after the departure of world class back up Nick Evans, at times left the side more vulnerable with Stephen Donald at 10. This was seen in a poor run in 2009, first with a loss at home to France, then three losses in a row in the Tri Nations to a great South Africa team, which cost them their world number one spot for a while.
However that mid-RWC wobble proved just a blip in another otherwise highly successful era. They continued to dominate on European tours, winning 12 from 12 games and not conceding a single try in 9 of those, and nearly went 2010 unbeaten but for a poor Donald clearance kick late on in a Bledisloe Cup match in Hong Kong. And then even when Carter went down injured again at the worst moment at their 2011 home World Cup, they just about managed to avoid another choke as they squeaked over the line in the final against their nemesis France.
This was a mighty fine side and could maybe be top three on this list. After all they just about won a World Cup where 04-07 All Blacks failed, they won a Tri Nations unbeaten which the 98-01 Australia team never did, and although they had more losses they faced a much tougher rival more frequently in an all time great South Africa team than the 00-03 England did.
However they had maybe had a little less strength in depth in a couple key positions compared to the two All Blacks eras either side it in 2004-07 or 2012-15, did lose a few more games than England in early 2000s, and unlike Australia's convincing triumph in 1999 also came very close to shockingly bottling another World Cup as huge favourites in the final against France.
Typical starting XV: 1 Tony Woodcock, 2 Andrew Hore or Keven Mealamu, 3 Owen Franks, 4 Brad Thorn, 5 Ali Williams (later Sam Whitelock), 6 Jerome Kaino, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 8 Kieran Read, 9 Jimmy Cowan or Piri Weepu, 10 Dan Carter, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu or Joe Rokocoko or Richard Kahui, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 13 Conrad Smith, 14 Cory Jane, 15 Mils Muliaina
Record over the period: Played 55, Won 46, Lost 9 (win rate 84%)
Major achievements: Rugby World Cup, Tri Nations x 2 (x 1 undefeated), 12/12 November tour wins vs 6 Nations opponents away from home (9 of them without conceding a single try)
South Africa 2018–2023Other than Tendai Mtawarira's retirement after 2019, the Springboks have been picking roughly the same core group of players for about five years, and played 2023 as the oldest side in the tournament. Only Kurt-Lee Arendse from the World Cup final XV in 2023 was not in the World Cup squad in 2019. So whilst New Zealand were the first to win back to back World Cups but with a different coach and freshened up team, this South Africa team under Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber had several more double medal winners and could be said to be first to win two just in one era.
Also notable is these successes came straight after the disastrous Allister Coetzee era in 2016/17 which rivals 2002/03 under Rudolf Straeuli as the worst in Springbok history. Erasmus took the Boks back to their playing to their strengths of ultra physicality, fierce defence, huge set piece, and improved discipline which when combined with an on form goal kicker has seen them expertly suited to the tension of knockout rugby.
Despite a middling record between tournaments they have also shown expertise in peaking in World Cup years. In 2019 and 2023 Erasmus/Nienaber's team has won 21 of 25 games, only New Zealand or Ireland on good form have been able to stop them. Among those games they exhibited in equal measure their ability to win in both a crushing manner even against top sides such as the record 35-7 victory over New Zealand in the 2023 warm ups, or 32-12 beating of an on form England in the 2019 final, or tight and sometimes ugly which was route taken in the succession of one point knockout wins to retain their title in 2023.
However, it also has to be said a tournament win with a pool stage defeat as in 2019, or with a pool stage defeat and three one point wins in a row as in 2023 (which is almost the rugby equivalent of a football team who wins after going to the penalty shootout three times as no matter how skilful you are at this level those usually come down to a bit of luck), they could not be said to be the most dominant of World Cup winning teams ever.
This is backed up by a look at that aforementioned middling record between World Cups. Under Erasmus/Nienaber South Africa has no full Rugby Championship title (they did win the shortened RWC year version that is used as a warm up event) even despite in 2022 getting the chance to play both games against the All Blacks at their lowest point in 20 years at home.
Over the last five years they are only 4-4 vs Australia, 5-5 vs New Zealand (both of whom just had their worst four year cycle in terms of win percentage of the professional era), and 0-2 vs Ireland (arguably the strongest international team since the pandemic). Overall in 39 tests since returning from the pandemic in 2021 they have lost 12 times to 7 different teams.
So despite some fans outrage at the suggestion, this is simply not a record that puts this Springboks era in the conversation for best of all time compared to some of the most dominant sides in history higher up on this list. To truly believe so would require a combination of extreme levels of bias, giving a very small sample size of World Cup games an enormously outsized view in the evaluation, plus a colossal amount of ignorance of rugby history. In reality, what was possibly their best ever team's four year cycle was basically a mere one point better than New Zealand's worst, and with no win against Ireland it cannot be said conclusively they have even been the best of their own era.
Typical starting XV: 1 Tendai Mtawarira (later Steven Kitshoff), 2 Malcolm Marx or Bongi Mbonambi, 3 Frans Malherbe, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 5 Lood de Jager or Franco Mostert, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 9 Faf de Klerk, 10 Handre Pollard, 11 Makazole Mapimpi (later Kurt-Lee Arendse), 12 Damian de Allende, 13 Lukhanyo Am or Jesse Kriel, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 15 Willie le Roux (later Damien Willemse)
Record over the period: Played 64, Won 44, Drawn 1, Lost 19 (win rate 69%)
Major achievements: Rugby World Cup x 2, record margin win over All Blacks (35-7)
8. South Africa 2007–2011
South Africa 2007–2011Similar to the Erasmus/Nienaber era Springboks, this 2007 to 2011 Springboks era side stayed largely intact for a lengthy five year or so period. Only Os du Randt and Percy Montgomery were major retirements from the 2007 group coached by Jake White which largely all continued onto play up to 2011 under Peter de Villiers. So this era can be said to have unusually to have lasted not just two World Cups but two coaches.
On paper this team stacked with world class talent is one that really perhaps ought to have had a higher win rate. They did have some great moments though that filled the trophy cabinet with a relatively comfortable World Cup win in 2007 with the All Blacks out of the way, avenged the previous generation's Lions series failure of 1997, and also beat a great All Blacks side three times in a year in 2009 to win a full Tri Nations (a feat that has actually proved tougher for the Boks over the last 20 years than winning a World Cup despite it being a more regular competition) in one of the only brief periods over a 15 year span between 2004 to 2019 where there was a different clear world number one.
Yet they struggled to sustain the high levels they reached at their best in 2009. This Springbok team usually gave Graham Henry's New Zealand team their hardest challenges of any opponent, but equally had a surprisingly bad 5/14 record against Australia over the period, and either side of their Tri Nations triumph in 2009 won just 3/12 games in the tournament. They also slipped up on November tours against France, Ireland (2009), and Scotland (2010) and were prone to some worse lows and wider defeats than others on this top 10 list.
This era had a near identical overall win/loss record to the Erasmus/Nienaber era but with a Tri Nations win instead of an extra World Cup. It is very hard to split the two. In arguing for this Bok team as their best of the professional era, you could point out they had a higher percentage of their fixtures played against stronger All Black and Wallabies sides than the more recent era (which faces Argentina much more often). Also their achievement of beating an all time great New Zealand team three times in a year (twice by over a score) probably edges the Erasmus/Nienaber team beating a likely all time great France team once by a point on way to a second World Cup. However what counts against this group is inconsistency which included a few somewhat rougher losses, whereas the better coached 2018-2023 team was more dependably tough to beat and their losses typically were always tight within a score.
Typical starting XV: 1 Tendai Mtawarira (earlier Os du Randt), 2 John Smit (c) or Bismarck du Plessis, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 4 Bakkies Botha, 5 Victor Matfield, 6 Schalk Burger, 7 Juan Smith, 8 Pierre Spies, 9 Fourie du Preez, 10 Morne Steyn (earlier Butch James), 11 Bryan Habana, 12 Jean de Villiers, 13 Jaque Fourie, 14 JP Pietersen, 15 Frans Steyn (earlier Percy Montgomery)
Record over the period: Played 65, Won 44, Lost 21 (win rate 68%)
Major achievements: Rugby World Cup, Tri Nations (beating New Zealand 3 times in a year), Lions series win
New Zealand (2016–2019)This side suffers in comparison following the All Blacks previous era. But still the second half of Steve Hansen's 8 years would have been considered one of the best ever for just about any other nation, as they maintained a world #1 position for most of the four years winning 17 out of 18 Rugby Championship games and played some great rugby at times with Beauden Barrett succeeding Carter.
However those unbeaten Rugby Championship successes cannot be considered an equal achievement to previous times. South Africa had another truly awful mini-period in 2016/17 that was a strange repeat of their 2002/03 shambles. Argentina were a huge disappointment after a positive 2015 World Cup. Whilst the only opponent who didn't have to sack their coach mid four year cycle Australia were nothing at all special in this period either with home losses to all of England (3 times), Scotland, and Ireland (twice).
Tougher challenges were now coming from Britain and Ireland and here this All Blacks era fluffed their lines suffering their first failure to win a Lions series since 1971, two losses to Ireland for the first time ever, which although they did avenge with a thumping 46-14 quarter final thrashing at the World Cup, was then followed by a clear semi final defeat to England.
Despite those disappointments though they did still finish with a win rate of 83% over the four years, something scarcely any non-All Black teams have bettered in the professional era. It is a mark of how successful they have been in modern rugby that what may only be the 5th best All Black era of the professional era still surely ranks among the top 10 among all countries.
There is a case to push them up above the South African teams on this list given their superior win rate, as many non-shortened Rugby Championships as South Africa have ever won, and lack of defeats to Scotland or a team coached by Wayne Pivac. Yet their Lions and World Cup disappointments where both Springbok teams succeeded put them just slightly below.
Typical starting XV: 1 Joe Moody, 2 Dane Coles or Codie Taylor, 3 Nepo Laulala, 4 Brodie Retallick, 5 Sam Whitelock, 6 Ardie Savea, 7 Sam Cane, 8 Kieran Read (c), 9 Aaron Smith, 10 Beauden Barrett, 11 Rieko Ioane or George Bridge, 12 Sonny Bill Williams or Anton Lienert-Brown, 13 Ryan Crotty or Jack Goodhue, 14 Ben Smith or Sevu Reece, 15 Damian McKenzie
Record over the period: Played 53, Won 44, Drawn 2, Lost 7 (win rate 83%)
Achievements: Rugby Championship x 3 (x 2 undefeated)
South Africa (1997–1999)South Africa in the late 90s under Nick Mallett reached world number one in 1998 with what is still to date the Springboks only unbeaten home/away Tri Nations or Rugby Championship campaign which was achieved in a period where SANZAR were very much the world's three top sides.
That campaign is also remembered as being the highlight of a record winning streak of 17, which also included a sweep of away victories over all Five Nations opposition including huge record thrashings of France 52-10 and Scotland 68-10 in November 1997, and also at home a record 96-17 win over Wales in 1998.
However this team can't be marked be higher as their spell on top compared to others on this list was relatively short and limited to one season, and the majority of that win streak was against Five Nations sides (12 of 17 games) in what was in 1997/98 by far their absolute worst ever period relative to SANZAR (in 1998 England had a team losing 76-0 to Australia).
As soon as the All Blacks got their act together again after a slump following retirements and injuries, and Australia gathered momentum under Rod Macqueen, the Boks whilst still a decent competitive team sunk back down to bottom of the SANZAR trio (indeed besides 1998 South Africa did not win more than a single game in a Tri Nations until 2004) and before he departed Mallett only got 3 wins in his next 11 games vs either of his big two rivals (and one of those was in a very flat World Cup 3rd place playoff).
Still this was a good South Africa team which has the highest win rate of any Springbok era in the professional era, and also like every Springbok team at a World Cup besides the awful 2003 team could only be stopped just by the narrowest margins as an all time great Australia side got pushed to extra time.
Typical starting XV: 1 Os du Randt or Robbie Kempson, 2 James Dalton or Naka Drotske, 3 Adrian Garvey or Cobus Visagie, 4 Krynauw Otto, 5 Mark Andrews, 6 Rassie Erasmus, 7 Andre Venter, 8 Gary Teichmann (c) or Bobby Skinstad, 9 Joost van der Westhuizen, 10 Henry Honiball or Jannie de Beer, 11 Pieter Rossouw, 12 Pieter Muller, 13 Robbie Fleck or Andre Snyman, 14 Stefan Terblanche or Breyton Paulse, 15 Percy Montgomery
Record over the period: Played 30, Won 24, Lost 6 (win rate 80%)
Achievements: Tri Nations (x 1 undefeated)
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