A New Zealand Herald and DigiPoll survey has revealed that precisely 70.4 percent of Kiwis believe that the All Blacks will win the Rugby World Cup on home soil in 2011.

According to the allblacks.com website, as the calendar ticks into a World Cup year, throughout all the rugby – the Super Rugby tournament, Tri-Nations, as well as the Northern Hemisphere competitions – inevitably attention will turn towards the seventh quadrennial global championship kicking off on September 9.

The NZ Herald also interviewed former All Blacks Sir Colin Meads and Andy Haden, who both believed that their old team would hoist the Webb Ellis Cup.

However both stated that All Blacks captain Richie McCaw and Dan Carter were central to their hopes.

“On present form the All Blacks are the form team in the world at the moment but, you know, the World Cup is another year away,” Meads said.

“Still, we are looking very, very good and the only thing I can see interfering with us winning it will be injuries. If we were to lose Richie McCaw and Dan Carter, we would be in trouble.”

Haden felt that the squad that claimed the Grand Slam was the All Blacks best chance of winning the World Cup.

“But I’m not predicting they will win if that combination is not available,” he said.

“If either McCaw or Carter are out the chances will be diminished, markedly.”

Both Meads and Haden believed that the All Blacks biggest threats would come from their Tri-Nations rivals.

The poll revealed that a massive 45.5 percent of New Zealanders believed that the Wallabies would be the All Blacks greatest threat, followed by the Springboks on 24.7 percent, while England and France captured 8 and 5.5 percent of votes respectively.

Meads thought the Springboks would get better, pinpointing their 32-12 loss to the All Blacks in Auckland as a key match that aided New Zealand’s 2010 fortunes, and dented those of their old rivals.

“That was the best match the All Blacks have played in the last 20 or even 30 years,” Meads said.

“We really thrashed them in every position and it gave our fellas the confidence to go through the year. I think it sort of demoralised them, but South Africa will come back, you just wait and see.”