Former All Black Sean Fitzpatrick has sent a warning to England ahead of their Rugby World Cup final against South Africa.
England booked their spot in the final after beating the All Blacks comprehensively 19-7 on Saturday night, but Fitzpatrick told The Independent that could come back to haunt them.
"It’s interesting, I was speaking to Sir Clive [Woodward] about it yesterday," Fitzpatrick said.
"In 1995, we completely dominated England in the semi-final, and then six days later [in the final against South Africa] we didn’t perform."
While the 1995 final is marred by the food poisoning controversy the All Blacks had to deal with, Fitzpatrick said there were other finals where one team came in looking hot but failed to fire.
"There’s been lots of World Cups where that’s happened. France in ‘87. The All Blacks in ’95. France again in ’99. The coaches and the staff have got a lot of work to do to make sure the guys are prepared."
In Fitzpatrick's examples, France lost their first two finals after winning their semi-finals 30-24 against the Wallabies in 1987 and their stunning 43-31 win over the All Blacks in 1999.
The former hooker said England's win in Yokohama mirrors those results.
“It’s not easy to back up that performance. Especially after everyone expected the All Blacks to win. Now it’s flipped on its head, and everyone’s expecting England to win.
"How they deal with that expectation, how they embrace it, will be interesting to see. They’ve just got to go about their normal routines. Make sure all the players know exactly how the game’s going to be played.”
The Rugby World Cup final kicks off at 10pm NZT on Saturday.
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