Four All Blacks teams - 1987, 1995, 2011 and now 2015 - have reached the final of the Rugby World Cup. But which was the best team out of the four? Steve Hepburn and Matt Smith sift through the memory banks and use completely unscientific methods to rank the four sides.
1987
Beat France 29-9
Auckland
Hepburn
This World Cup was lit up in the first game when John Kirwan scored that marvellous try against Italy, running through the whole side.
From then on the All Blacks looked odds-on to win the big prize.
They were way fitter than any other team, played a more expansive style, and with an electric back three who could carve up, the home team was always going to be too potent for anyone else.
The Australians - really the only other side which could challenge them - were slightly off the boil, and had run their race the year before.
The All Blacks had solid midfielders and, in Grant Fox, a complete professional even before the game had gone professional.
Up front, the late John Drake was a cornerstone of the pack and there was just the right blend of youth and experience.
Buck Shelford was at his best in this tournament and Michael Jones was simply sensational.
Smith
Yes, there was no South Africa. Sure, the Cavaliers had lost a series in South Africa the year before.
And I know, I know, half the Home Nations were still trying to figure out what on earth this ''World Cup'' palaver was all about.
But the 1987 All Blacks side was seriously good.
The whippet-like speed of John Gallagher at the back was complemented by powerful and elusive outside backs like Joe Stanley and John Kirwan, the metronomic consistency of Grant Fox at 10 and David Kirk darting like a meerkat from halfback.
Then you look at the forwards: a beautifully balanced loose trio of Buck Shelford, Alan Whetton and the spring-heeled Michael Jones.
The locks Gary Whetton and Murray Pierce didn't miss a trick, while Steve McDowall, Sean Fitzpatrick and John Drake made a fleeting but no-nonsense front-row.
In an amateur era, this XV was streets ahead of its opposition.
Ranking: 2nd
1995
Lost 15-12 to South Africa
Johannesburg
Hepburn
When you look at this side one wonders how it possibly lost the final.
It had class all over it.
The semifinal smashing of England was one of the greatest team and individual performances by the All Blacks and Jonah Lomu.
The side was handicapped by illness in the final and an inspired South African side.
The All Black backs contain some top talent with Lomu, Jeff Wilson and Frank Bunce.
Up front was not bad either.
Sean Fitzpatrick, Josh Kronfeld and the Brooke brothers were great.
It really does ask the question of how the All Blacks did indeed lose the final.
Smith
If this was all about the backs, the 1995 side could possibly have it in a hand canter.
Listing the seven backs who started the final at Ellis Park explains my point without further elucidation: Glen Osborne, Jeff Wilson, Frank Bunce, Walter Little, Jonah Lomu, Andrew Mehrtens and Graeme Bachop.
Actually, the influence of Jonah Lomu has to be expanded on.
As Gavin Hastings said after Lomu steamrolled his Scots in the quarterfinal, Lomu was a freak - blending power, pace, swerve, and verve.
That's not to say the forwards were awful. When you have Zinzan and Robin Brooke, Sean Fitzpatrick, Ian Jones and Josh Kronfeld kitting up, you know there's going to be dynamism mixed with power.
The '95 side revolutionised rugby and paved the way for the sport to go professional and missed out on World Cup glory only due to a droppie-off.
Ranking: 3rd
2011
Beat France 8-7
Auckland
Hepburn
The 2011 team got the monkey off the country's back by winning the big prize after so many years.
It was good in pool play but by the final, the side was creaking.
Fullback Israel Dagg was in good form as were most of the backs but the inside pairing of Aaron Cruden and Piri Weepu would not get a ticket to an elite All Blacks dinner.
Sometimes one wonders if players who go on too long - like Weepu - tarnish their entire careers.
In the quarterfinal and semifinal, Weepu was great but a leg injury curtailed his impact in the final.
Up front the All Black pack was great, although the French gave it a decent shot and came close. Damn close.
A very good side
Smith
The 2011 side deserves credit for ending the long-suffering pain of All Blacks fans but injuries in key positions make it hard to rate this team too highly.
Let's not forget the home side had dismantled the Tricolors 37-17 in pool play.
The final is, of course, a different beast altogether, but some positions just don't have that fear factor clearly visible in the other sides.
Israel Dagg, Richard Kahui and Cory Jane were as solid as an oak chest of drawers and showed flashes of brilliance, but neither Aaron Cruden or Piri Weepu would make any right-minded person's list of All Blacks greats.
The loose forwards, Kieran Read, Richie McCaw and Jerome Kaino, are one of our better trios; Brad Thorn and Sam Whitelock provided balance in the second row while two out of the three front-rowers (Tony Woodcock and Keven Mealamu) might be whispered in hushed tones.
A very, very good All Blacks side, but not of the '87 or '95 vintage.
Ranking: 4th
2015
Plays Australia
Twickenham, Sunday morning
Hepburn
Many of the 2011 team are in the 2015 team and if anything, some have improved.
Conrad Smith and Ma'a Nonu are playing as well as ever.
Lock Sam Whitelock is playing his best rugby, performing above and beyond what he did in 2011, while his partner Brodie Retallick has made every post a winning one since he came into the team in 2012.
Good loose forwards and Dan Carter playing near his early-career standards, this side's real talents are out the back with Julian Savea, Nehe Milner-Skudder and Ben Smith.
They are deadly on attack and take some stopping.
Smith
Despite this team being well advanced in years, that is not a bad thing.
Ma'a Nonu is at the end of his international career but arguably in his best ever form; Dan Carter has rediscovered his mojo which had gone on a sabbatical for six or seven years; Richie McCaw is ... well ... Richie McCaw; and Keven Mealamu seems to be thriving in his support role behind Dane Coles.
The difference from four years ago is the explosiveness out wide - Julian Savea, the hot-stepping Nehe Milner-Skudder and Ben Smith, who seems to have stolen the Billy Elusiv persona from the other Ben Smith who played for Otago.
Sam Whitelock and Brodie Retallick could end up being New Zealand's best-ever lock pairing, while Owen Franks and Wyatt Crockett are industrious around the paddock.
The bench is where this side comes in to its own.
Sonny Bill Williams, Beauden Barrett, Victor Vito and Joe Moody have shown sparks of genius off the bench and gives this side the nod against the three other finalists.
Ranking: 1st
