 Under Smith and Gilbert , New Zealand came second in the 2000 and 2001 Tri @-@ Nations , and in neither season did the side reclaim the Bledisloe Cup – which had been lost in 1998 . Both coaches were replaced by John Mitchell on 3 October 2001 , and he went on to coach New Zealand to victory in both the 2002 and 2003 Tri @-@ Nations , as well as regaining the Bledisloe Cup in 2003 . The All Blacks entered the 2003 World Cup as one of the favourites and dominated their pool , running up wins against Italy , Canada and Tonga , before winning one of the most competitive matches of the tournament against Wales . They defeated South Africa in their quarter @-@ final , a team they had never beaten at the World Cup , 29 – 9 , but lost to Australia 22 – 10 in the semi @-@ final in Sydney . Afterwards , Mitchell had to reapply as coach , but the NZRU instead appointed Graham Henry . 
