'I'm not going to talk about beating New Zealand' - Italy defence coach Marius Goosen

Italy defence coach Marius Goosen admitted that it would be unrealistic for them to consider beating New Zealand in their upcoming Rugby World Cup game despite the All Blacks' indifferent form.

Despite claiming the Rugby Championship and Bledisloe Cup earlier in the year, New Zealand suffered a record 7-38 defeat to the Springboks in the warm-up and were also defeated by France 27-13 in their opening game of the Rugby World Cup encounter.

Even though Ian Foster's men made a strong statement trouncing Namibia 71-3, there are some questions raised over their dominance in the game - something that made them fearful to face especially in the World Cups.

Despite their recent slump, Goosen is not expecting anything easy for them when the two teams meet on Friday with the All Blacks holding a clear advantage in the head to head record having won all the 15 matches while racking up 223 points in their last four encounters.

"I'm not going to talk about beating them. If you look at the last 16 games Italy played against them, there was a 50-point difference on average," said Goosen.

"So it's ludicrous from us to stand here and say we're going to go in there and win the game."

The recent defeats of New Zealand and the emergence of in-form Ireland and South Africa sides have seen Ian Foster's men slip to the fourth position in the World Rugby Rankings but Goosen feels the All Blacks can never be kept out considering their impeccable record over the years.

"That could be a general impression but for me they are still and always have been New Zealand.

"Even if they're not number one in the world, they are in the battle for the number one spot, so you always have to keep an eye on them."