That'll get the rugby nuts talking! And before I go any further, yes I'm a kiwi therefore by default an All Black fan so my opinion is already biased. But wait - I didn't make up that title. Anthony Sharwood of The Punch from Fox Sport Australia did. But I agree fully and challenge anyone to prove him (and me) wrong.

Anthony backs up his statement with the following facts:

1. The All Blacks have won 363 of 483 matches giving them a win ratio of 77%. over 108 years. YEARS people, that means they've been pretty blimey good for a long, long time.
2. Only lost to 5 test playing nations in their history. This doesn't include combined teams like the World XV or the British and Irish Lions.

I can add to that. Check out these statistics taken from Wikipedia, who in turn got their stats from the International Rugby Board, the New Zealand Rugby Football Union and other authorities so you know I'm not making these up:

1. The All Blacks are the only international rugby team to have a winning record against every nation they have played. Many teams recorded their biggest losses against them including top tier nations France, Ireland and Argentina. Ireland and Scotland have never beaten the All Blacks.
2. Since World Rankings were introduced by the IRB in October 2003, the All Blacks have sat in pole position for longer than all other countries combined.
3. Last decade their winning ratio was 82%, they won 15 straight tests and set a world record 30 straight wins at home and have only lost at home 37 times.
4. They hold the record for the most points scored by a team where they notched up a score of 145 points to Japans 17 in their world cup pool match in 1995.
5. They are the current Rugby World Cup champions and a day after taking that title, were named the IRB Team of the Year for the fifth time.

Whew! And that's just the teams records. Individual All Black records are equally as impressive, particularly during world cup time:

1. Dan Carter is the leading points scorer of all time with 1250 points from 85 tests
2. Jonah Lomu, widely regarded in rugby circles as rugby's first international superstar, holds the record for most tries scored both in the final stages (15) and in one competition (8).
3. Marc Ellis still holds the record for most tries scored in a single match with 6 versus Japan in 1995.
4. Grant Fox holds the record for most conversions in one tournament with 30 in 1987
5. Simon Culhane holds the record for most conversions in one match with 20 versus Japan in 1995.

The All Blacks consistently sell out stadiums around the world and of particular note is the amazing attendance of 80074 fans who packed into the All Blacks versus Italy match in 2009. The match was intended to bring rugby to new audiences and was played at the home of football giants AC Milan and F.C. Internazionale Milano.

And we haven't even mentioned the coaches - or the 7's, Juniors, age groups and school groups who are often referred to as Junior All Blacks or Baby Blacks nor the champion Black Ferns, New Zealands premier womens international rugby team. But that's a whole nother article. For now, I think I've proven Ozzie Mr Sharwood is not wrong when he called the All Blacks "the greatest sporting team in the history of world sport". Can you prove him wrong?