All Blacks coach Graham Henry believes the failure of any New Zealand teams to make this weekend's Super 14 final could be a blessing in disguise ahead of this year's World Cup campaign.
New Zealand teams have dominated the Super 12 and Super 14 since it began in 1996, winning all but two of the titles, but missed out on this year's final when Canterbury and Auckland both lost their semi-finals.
Canterbury were beaten 27-12 by the Bulls in Pretoria while Auckland went down 34-18 to the Durban-based Sharks to ensure the final will be an all-South African affair.
Henry said the Super 14 results were a timely warning to the All Blacks ahead of the World Cup. New Zealand are the favourites to win the tournament but Henry said that was no guarantee of success.
"It keeps people's feet on the ground and stops any complacency, so it's probably a good thing for the All Blacks," Henry explained.
The All Blacks won the inaugural World Cup at home in 1987 but have not won the title since, despite going into the four subsequent tournaments as favourites.
"It is a reality check for New Zealand rugby people that these things are never automatic, the World Cup is never automatic, we haven't won it for a long time," he said. "We need to improve 20-25 per cent if we are going to be World Cup champions at the end of the year. There's a lot of work to be done but at the moment we can't do any more than we are doing."
The All Blacks will open their 2007 campaign with a two-test series at home to Six Nations champions France next month as well as playing a one-off match against Canada.
They will finish off their preparations by playing the annual Tri-Nations series against Australia and South Africa in June and July.
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