Former New Zealand out-half Dan Carter says the All Blacks have "proved a lot of people wrong" in their run to the World Cup final.
Win or lose, Sunday's World Cup final against South Africa (Live on RTÉ2) will be the last competitive game for the coaching ticket led by Ian Foster, with former Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt an influential assistant.
Celebrated Crusaders' coach Scott Robertson is set to take over ahead of the new year. We'll discover at the weekend whether he'll be inheriting a World Cup-winning side.
Foster has been subject to much criticism throughout his reign, most notably after their rare series loss at home to Ireland in the summer of 2022.
Typically positioned as outright favourites ahead of most World Cups, New Zealand were just one of a quartet of likely winners at the outset this time, and they drifted in the reckoning following their decisive pool-stage loss to France on the opening night.
However, they regrouped across the pool stage and executed a perfect gameplan to take out Ireland in a tense quarter-final before briskly dismissing Argentina in the last-four.
Two-time World Cup winner Carter - who was at Elm Park in Dublin today as part of Golf Ireland and ISPS Handa's campaign to grow participation for golfers with a disability - said Foster's side had defied the critics.
"Before the tournament, I don't think many New Zealanders would have thought that the All Blacks would be here," Carter told RTÉ Sport's Michael Corcoran.
"But having worked with the team this year, I knew that they believed.
"They had faith in themselves. When you're in the spotlight and under a lot of public and media scrutiny, you can go one of two ways. You can believe what you're reading and hearing. Or you can galvanise and unite as a team. That's exactly what the All Blacks have done.
"It's very rare that the All Blacks go into a World Cup not as one of the favourites. And this World Cup was exactly that and they've proved a lot of people wrong.
"So, they should be really proud of what they've achieved but that doesn't mean anything unless they get the job done this weekend.
"They're playing some really accurate, clinical rugby at the right time of the tournament, so really excited to see how they go."
Carter, a three-time World Player of the Year, won two World Cups with New Zealand, though missed most of the 2011 competition with injury, as Graham Henry's All Blacks finally ended their 24-year long hoodoo in the RWC.
He was considerably more central to their successful retention in 2015, taking the Man of the Match award as they held off Australia in the Twickenham decider, capping off a glorious international career in appropriate fashion.
"The pinnacle for any rugby player is to play in a Rugby World Cup final," says Carter.
"Two powerhouses of world rugby. Two teams that know each other extremely well. It's going to be a brutal competition.
"We really need to at least match the physicality of the Springboks. And have real accuracy at setpiece time, so really strong scrum, really accurate lineout and really strong and accurate at the breakdown.
"If the All Blacks can do that, they can start to put the Springboks under pressure with their attacking game. But being really clinical and accurate in those last 15 minutes when the pressure is on both teams.
"Big games like this, it's which team is able to handle the pressure better than the other one. A lot of work goes on the players' mental strength, making sure they're able to execute, perform and communicate under huge amounts of pressure. Because that's exactly what's going to be happening this weekend."
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