In the conversation around which of the 2015 All Blacks or 2023 Springboks will go down as the best in rugby history, Irish rugby legend Brian O'Driscoll sees only one winner.
South Africa narrowly beat New Zealand in the World Cup final on Saturday, to claim their fourth World Cup in their eighth attempt.
In doing so, Siya Kolisi's Springboks joined Richie McCaw's All Blacks as the only two teams to have won the William Webb Ellis trophy back-to-back.
As the only men's team in history to win a fourth World Cup, have a 50% tournament success rate, and a 100% final record, the Springboks have an argument to suggest that they are the best team in rugby history.
Former Ireland and British and Irish Lions captain Brian O'Driscoll, however, feels that South Africa need more than that to truly have the title of 'best in history'.
"From one point of view, understanding their route to a final, beating the best teams in the world, it's a strong argument," O'Driscoll said on Off The Ball.
"For me, the best team has to play the best rugby. If you're talking about that, in my lifetime, that 2015 New Zealand World Cup winning team would, it would be a stretch to say they'd wipe the floor with this team, but from a rugby point of view, and an enjoyment point of view, I think comfortably them."
The 2015 All Blacks had it all
For O'Driscoll, what made the 2015 New Zealand side so spectacular was not just their results, but the manner in which they earned them.
"In the scheme of, what's the best team, New Zealand won back-to-backs as well in '11 and '15," O'Driscoll said. "Yeah, okay, they might not have had to beat the top five or six teams in the world en route to a final, which is an incredible feat, but I want to be able to look back and remember, and think, 'wow, that was great rugby'.
"It was played with an energy, end-to-end, an ability to link forwards and backs, have a really smart kicking game, to kick three pointers where needs be from Dan Carter, scoring end-to-end tries. I thought that All Black team in '15 really were very, very special.
"That team made me wonder whether we were capable of winning the World Cup."
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