The major threat to the All Blacks will come from the Northern Hemisphere in 2019 - Sean Fitzpatrick

All Blacks legend Sean Fitzpatrick believes All Blacks, who will almost certainly be the favourites for the 2019 World Cup will face their biggest challenge in the 2019 World Cup from one of the Northern Hemisphere teams.

“I’ve always felt over the last 12 months that the major threat to the All Blacks will come from the Northern Hemisphere in 2019. I’m sure they’ll be paying close attention to the Six Nations, which looks like being one of the closest fought.”

Fitzpatrick also claimed that the All Blacks will be closely watching the upcoming Six Nations tournament, which is touted to be the most competitive one with Scotland, Ireland and tournament favorites England going into the tournament with tremendous confidence.

“I think it’s going to be one of the best Six Nations so far in terms of how competitive it will be,” says Fitzpatrick.

“Ireland are in a great place and they’re going to be very difficult to beat, especially at home. Travelling to Twickenham is going to be a major challenge but they’ve done it there before.

“Joe Schmidt is one of the best coaches around and has shown that with a bit of talent he can develop a team that can beat anyone.

“Then England are the defending champions and they’ve got unbelievable depth. With the injuries they have, how long can they go on replacing these players, but one thing they’re doing is gaining real experience. As Eddie keeps on telling us, the main thing is 2019.”

Wales will kick off the 2018 Six Nations at home to Scotland on the first Saturday of next month.