New Zealand v Italy: Other nations have caught up with All Blacks, says Azzurri boss Kieran Crowley

Italy head coach Kieran Crowley believes other countries "have caught up" with New Zealand as his side prepare for a crucial World Cup match against the All Blacks on Friday.

The Azzurri will reach the knockout phase for the first time if they win in Lyon, while New Zealand would be on the verge of qualification with a victory.

"We're not going out there trying to keep the score down, we're going out there to try to win the game," said former New Zealand full-back Crowley.

"We're not going to be stupid about how we play, we are going to kick."

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The Azzurri are on a four-match winning run, albeit against teams they were expected to beat, and have a perfect record in Pool A so far having overcome Namibia and Uruguay.

New Zealand lost their World Cup opener to hosts France, two weeks after they slumped to a record defeat to South Africa.

Since the All Blacks last faced Italy, a 47-9 win for the visitors in Rome in 2021, the three-time world champions have lost eight of their past 21 Tests.

Crowley said other nations' improvements have closed the gap on the All Blacks, who are "not more beatable".

"I've never seen a bad All Black team, but world rugby at the top level now is getting very, very close because everyone's exposed to the same coaching, everyone's exposed to the same strength and conditioning and nutrition," he added.

"A few years ago the All Blacks were pretty dominant. They were probably a little bit ahead of other countries in the way they approached the game, but now you see everyone has caught up."

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Italy have never beaten New Zealand before - and in 15 previous encounters the Azzurri have lost by an average of more than 50 points.

The All Blacks recovered from their defeat to France with a blistering 71-3 win over Namibia last Friday. A bonus-point win over Italy at Parc Olympique Lyonnais would see them leapfrog their opponents into second in Pool A.

"Looking back to the history of the last 20, 30 years doesn't mean a lot come Friday and I think that's a positive sign for Italy," New Zealand coach Ian Foster said.

"They've taken a strategy of growing a young group coming through. They've clearly decided to change the way they play and to say: 'let's risk a little bit and see what happens'. And it's worked well for them."

Line-ups

New Zealand XV: Beauden Barrett; Will Jordan, Rieko Ioane, Jordie Barrett, Mark Telea; Richie Mo'unga, Aaron Smith; Ofa Tuungafasi, Codie Taylor, Nepo Laulala, Brodie Retallick, Scott Barrett, Shannon Frizell, Dalton Papali'i, Ardie Savea

Replacements: Dane Coles, Tamaiti Williams, Tyrel Lomax, Samuel Whitelock, Sam Cane, Cam Roigard, Damian McKenzie, Anton Lienert-Brown

Italy XV: Tommaso Allan; Ange Capuozzo, Juan Ignacio Brex, Luca Morisi, Montanna Ioane; Paolo Garbisi, Stephen Varney; Danilo Fischetti, Giacomo Nicotera, Marco Riccioni, Dino Lamb, Federico Ruzza, Sebastian Negri, Michele Lamaro, Lorenzo Cannone

Replacements: Hame Faiva, Ivan Nemer, Simone Ferrari, Niccolo Cannone, Manuel Zuliani, Toa Halafihi, Martin Page-Relo, Paolo Odogwu

Match officials

Referee: Matthew Carley (England)

Touch judges: Nic Berry, Christophe Ridley

TMO: Brett Cronan