The New Zealand All Blacks completed their autumn tour of Great Britain and Ireland today, by beating a gallant Wales 37-25, and rolled decisively to their third grand slam over all the home unions in the last five years. The All Blacks outscored the Welsh by five tries to one and in the process set two major world records. The world's best first five-eighth, Daniel Carter, broke Jonny Wilkinson's world record total of 1,178 points with his second kick of the match. The biggest difference between the two champion flyhalves is that Carter accumulated his total from a lot less games, and did so by scoring 4 times as many touchdowns as his English counterpart.In defeating the Welsh, the All Blacks also raised their all-time, all-comer, winning record to over 75% of their games. This is a phenomenal feat, one that is almost unheard of in any football code. This is especially so when you consider that New Zealand has been playing international rugby for well over 100 years. Even more astonishing is the fact that New Zealand has such a small population, currently estimated at just under 4.4 million persons. Closest rivals Australia has 22 million, South Africa has 50 million, while England has 51 million and France has a whopping 65 million citizens. Not too shabby for such a little nation, New Zealand is currently ranked No. 1 of all the top rugby playing nations and has been at that position for most of the time that the International Rugby Board has ranked international teams. By comparison, the team with the greatest winning percentage in the National Football League in the United States is the Dallas Cowboys with 58%. In truth the All Blacks define international rugby and what it means to win.
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