heres one for you Luke,
We're simply the best
October 5, 2007 - 8:14AM
New Zealand inside centre Luke McAlister said the All Blacks had the "best players in the world" heading into their World Cup quarter-final against France at the Millennium Stadium here on Saturday.
Tournament favourites New Zealand are widely expected to get past a France team that has lost its last seven Tests against the All Blacks.
However, a calf injury which has placed a doubt over the participation of influential fly-half Daniel Carter has given some French fans renewed hope as has the memory of their side's stunning 1999 World Cup semi-final win against New Zealand at Twickenham.
But Blues back McAlister said that even if Carter was unfit at the weekend, New Zealand would manage just fine.
"Nick Evans can step in and he's a world-class player. I'm sure he can fit the bill.
"We are all professional players and probably the best players in the world. You get to adapt to one another throughout the last three years we've been together. It's no big deal.
"I think, at this level, the All Blacks you'd call yourselves, the boys, the best players in the world.
"That's my opinion anyway," the 24-year-old added of a team that came into this tournament top of the International Rugby Board's world rankings.
Having cruised through the Pool phase, McAlister said New Zealand were eager for the challenge of knockout rugby.
"I guess the feeling in the camp is just excitement. This is the big one, this is what we've been waiting for, for a long time.
"France are strong. They are a good all-round side and exciting. It's going to be a tough game for us. You only get one shot and we'll be giving it our all," he added.
Saturday's match will see McAlister paired with Mils Muliaina in a still developing midfield combination.
But McAlister played down the duo's lack of game time together as a partnership and that Muliaina had played a lot of his recent international rugby as a full-back.
"He's a class centre," said McAlister, who kicked 13 points on his Test debut in 2005 against the British and Irish Lions at Auckland.
"He's been around a long time. For him, it's just a case of getting used to that centre position again, the lines you have to run, but he's onto it."
New Zealand haven't won the World Cup since becoming the first team to lift the Webb Ellis Trophy, on home soil, in 1987. AFP
