New Zealand are reaping the rewards of a major drive to turn around a series of disappointing results and can complete the task if they win the Rugby World Cup on Saturday, two of their key players said on Friday.

Both flyhalf Richie Mo’unga and record try scorer Will Jordan said a series of surprisingly disappointing results for the usually all-conquering All Blacks over the last 24 months had fueled an extra desire to get to the final of the tournament, where they take on South Africa at the Stade de France on Saturday.

New Zealand lost in Ireland and France in late 2021, then a home series to the Irish in mid-2022 and suffered a first ever home defeat to Argentina just over one year ago. Ahead of the World Cup in France, they went down to a record 35-7 defeat to South Africa in a warm-up test at Twickenham and were then beaten by the host nation in the tournament’s opening match.

“There’s been a huge amount of drive to turn it around and get it right. We’ve always been committed to being the best team we can be.

“We’ve been through some pretty tough times, particularly last year where things went a bit astray, but we’ve sort of come out of the fire of that,” said Jordan on the eve of Saturday’s final against the Springboks.

“I guess the big thing for us now is that consistency is back, and we’ve been able to put back-to-back performances together, which was probably what was missing before.

“So, the challenge for us tomorrow night is to be able to go three good games in a row. That will be a kind of hallmark of what we we’re at. It’s been a challenging period, but I think it’s held us in good stead and helped us to be where we want to be now.”

For Mo’unga the bonds built in adversity with his teammates were a massive spur to restoring lost lustre.

“Through all that, we’ll look back in time on what a journey it has been and how exciting it all comes down to this last game. The mindset might have been nerves going around and how daunting it can be, but now we’re really excited to put our best foot forward and give it a crack and, I think, if we do that, we’ll make ourselves proud.”

New Zealand have won five in a row since being beaten in their opening pool game, including edging top ranked Ireland in the quarter-finals and then romping to an easy 44-6 win over Argentina in last Friday’s semi-final.

Photo by EPA/YOAN VALAT