Alistair Rogers reflects on winning World Cup with the All Blacks

The All Blacks’ performance analyst seven years earlier had held the position of director of rugby with the Ballina club in Mayo

Alistair Rogers looks on at drills during an Auckland Blues Super Rugby training session at Eden Park in 2017. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

An hour or so after New Zealand’s 37-17 demolition of France in the pool stage of the 2011 World Cup, the two backroom teams shared a drink in a changing room.

It had been a tough four years since New Zealand’s quarter-final defeat to France in 2007 and motivation for the rematch in Auckland wasn’t lacking.