Cape Town - Former Springbok captain Morné du Plessis believes the All Blacks are the firm favourites to win the Rugby World Cup.
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The tournament starts on Friday, with the hosts taking on Tonga at Eden Park in Auckland.
And Du Plessis - who was the Boks' manager when they won the tournament on home soil in 1995 - believes the fact that the All Blacks are playing at home gives them a massive advantage.
"No doubt the All Blacks go in as the favourites. They are the form favourites. They are the mental favourites. They have home advantage. Home advantage is immense as we saw in 1995. It is enormous," said Du Plessis.
While acknowledging the importance of captain Richie McCaw and flyhalf Dan Carter to the New Zealand cause, Du Plessis also warned that the Kiwi's probably have the best all-round side.
"Dan Carter is obviously immense, (Richie) McCaw - these are the names that keep coming up. They’ve got some tremendous youngsters coming through on the wings and centre. So they also have depth in all positions. But I think what I’ve been most impressed with is their tight forwards."
Du Plessis did, however, note that despite viewing New Zealand as the favourites, they would have to guard against the emotion of a home tournament getting the better of them.
"It (home advantage) does have to be channelled, that emotion. It can almost become too much for a team to manage. Certainly they look confident, but again South Africa, England, Australia, France - all those teams have a chance. And we obviously believe [in] South Africa. We are very positive about our potential. We have good depth. We’ve got good experience. So I wouldn’t write off the Springboks at all."
* Who is going to win the Rugby World Cup? Click HERE for the latest odds on BET.CO.ZA
Click to BUY the new Drifta Mobile USB Decoder
Click to BUY the Rugby World Cup 2011 Game for Xbox
The tournament starts on Friday, with the hosts taking on Tonga at Eden Park in Auckland.
And Du Plessis - who was the Boks' manager when they won the tournament on home soil in 1995 - believes the fact that the All Blacks are playing at home gives them a massive advantage.
"No doubt the All Blacks go in as the favourites. They are the form favourites. They are the mental favourites. They have home advantage. Home advantage is immense as we saw in 1995. It is enormous," said Du Plessis.
While acknowledging the importance of captain Richie McCaw and flyhalf Dan Carter to the New Zealand cause, Du Plessis also warned that the Kiwi's probably have the best all-round side.
"Dan Carter is obviously immense, (Richie) McCaw - these are the names that keep coming up. They’ve got some tremendous youngsters coming through on the wings and centre. So they also have depth in all positions. But I think what I’ve been most impressed with is their tight forwards."
Du Plessis did, however, note that despite viewing New Zealand as the favourites, they would have to guard against the emotion of a home tournament getting the better of them.
"It (home advantage) does have to be channelled, that emotion. It can almost become too much for a team to manage. Certainly they look confident, but again South Africa, England, Australia, France - all those teams have a chance. And we obviously believe [in] South Africa. We are very positive about our potential. We have good depth. We’ve got good experience. So I wouldn’t write off the Springboks at all."
* Who is going to win the Rugby World Cup? Click HERE for the latest odds on BET.CO.ZA