All Black sides have often had a player with the x-factor heading into a World Cup but, as Gregor Paul of the New Zealand Herald reports, there doesn't seem to be one this time around.
"It feels like there's something missing from the national game at the moment. It's not just that New Zealand's teams have been a little flat, either. It's bigger than that.
"The Super 14 hasn't unearthed anyone new and exciting this year. No new heroes have arrived offering something different; something that looks capable of taking the All Blacks to a new level.
"And, 16 months out from the World Cup, the All Blacks are in need of something a little different. What they have is a core of well-known, experienced players. Dan Carter and Richie McCaw don't so much offer x-factor as the ability to perform the basics at a higher level than everyone else."
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