South Africa might currently have the World Cup and the tri-nations title and been voted the 2009 IRB Team of the Year - but there can be little doubt New Zealand have been the Team of the Decade despite missing out on two World Cups won by England (2003) and South Africa (2007) respectively.
In fact, the Boks are only ranked fifth on win percentage in this time, despite having the next best number of wins after New Zealand.
The Boks played the most Tests (125) winning 76 for a 60,8% win ratio. New Zealand played 122 Tests and won exactly 100 for an 82% win ratio.
That equates to 10 Tests won per year from an average total of 12,2 Tests played in each of the 10 years.
The All Blacks underlined their supremacy over the period by also scoring 133 more tries than the next best attacking side, Australia.
New Zealand scored 526 tries (4,31 per Test) compared to the 393 of Australia (3,20 per Test) and South Africa's 384 (ave.3,1). Argentina, with only 85 Tests played, averaged 3,7 tries per Test.
The All Blacks beat the Springboks in 16 of the 24 Tests played during the decade - and four of the eight Bok wins came with Peter de Villiers as national coach, three of them this year.
Yes, the All Blacks were the best and most consistent over the decade and won almost 60 % of their matches against the Boks despite this year's three consecutive losses.
New Zealand 122 100 1 21 4436 1920 526 82.0
Ireland 111 72 2 37 3076 2097 343 64.9
England 115 72 0 43 3320 2125 353 62.6
France 119 73 2 44 3283 2403 340 61.3
South Africa 125 76 2 47 3570 2663 384 60.8
Australia 123 74 3 46 3443 2254 393 60.2
Argentina 85 51 1 33 2696 1734 314 60.0
Wales 117 55 3 59 3160 2900 345 47.0
Scotland 104 39 1 64 2139 2541 211 37.5
Italy 111 31 1 79 2218 3357 215 27.9
World Cup winners:
2003: England.
2007: South Africa
Tri-Nations winners:
New Zealand 6,
South Africa 2,
Australia 2
Six Nations winners:
France 4,
England 3,
Wales 2,
Ireland 1
PLAYERS
Most tests:
110: George Smith (Australia)
99: John Hayes (Ireland/Lions)
97: Chris Paterson (Scotland)
95: Brian O'Driscoll (Ireland/Lions), Ronan O'Gara (Ireland/Lions)
93: John Smit (South Africa)
92: Victor Matfield (South Africa)
82: Mils Muliaina (New Zealand)
80: Richie McCaw (New Zealand)
71: Keven Mealamu (New Zealand)
Most wins:
70: Richie McCaw (New Zealand)
68: Mils Muliaina (New Zealand)
65: George Smith (Australia)
63: John Hayes (Ireland)
Most points this decade:
994: Daniel Carter (New Zealand)
954: Jonny Wilkinson (England/Lions) (overall 1058 for England)
929: Ronan O'Gara (Ireland/Lions)
784: Stephen Jones (Wales/Lions)
741: Chris Paterson (Scotland/)
703: Percy Montgomery (South Africa)
Most tries:
50: Shane Williams (Wales/Lions)
49: Doug Howlett (New Zealand)
45: Joe Rokocoko (New Zealand)
38: Chris Latham (Australia), Brian O'Driscoll (Ireland/Lions)
36 Bryan Habana (South Africa)
