Five or six teams could win it, says All Blacks' coach Hansen

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YOKOHAMA, JAPAN (SEPTEMBER 20, 2019) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)

1. (SOUNDBITE) (English) NEW ZEALAND HEAD COACH, STEVE HANSEN, SAYING:

"They are always competitive. It always makes me chuckle when you hear people say that this team can't win, this team is going to win... right now you have got a number of sides who can win it because they have the talent in their group. But, with that comes higher expectations and with higher expectations comes more pressure. If you don't deal with that pressure it can overwhelm you. So, I think that who copes with that the best, who deals with the good luck and the bad luck they get and how they deal with it... At the end of the day, like all the tournaments, anyone could win it. But there are probably more in this tournament than normal - in the last tournament there were two or three, this one there a probably five or six, which is great for rugby. It is what we want."

STORY: As many as six teams could win this year's World Cup, double the number of contenders four years ago, New Zealand coach Steve Hansen said on Friday (September 20) ahead of his side's opening clash with South Africa, one of the tournament's other favourites.

The All Blacks' decade-long reign at the top of the world rankings came to an end in recent weeks, first losing the mantle to 2019 Six Nations winners Wales and then Ireland, who won the northern hemisphere's premier annual tournament the year before.

While the ranking system is imperfect given Ireland's ascent actually followed a disappointing 2019, South Africa and Australia both finishing ahead of New Zealand in this year's Rugby Championship makes this the most open World Cup since the tournament began in 1987.

"They are always competitive - it always makes me chuckle when I hear this team can't win and this team is going to win. But right now you've got a number of sides that are capable of winning it because they've go the talent in their group," Hansen told a news conference.

(Production: Jack Tarrant)