Italy head coach Kieran Crowley believes other countries "have caught up" with New Zealand as his side prepare for a crucial World Cup match against the All Blacks on Friday.
The Azzurri will reach the knockout phase for the first time if they win in Lyon, while New Zealand would be on the verge of qualification with a victory.
Crowley says they are not going out there trying to keep the score down, they are going out to win the game.
The Italy coach says other nations' improvements have closed the gap on the All Blacks, who are "not more beatable".
He says they were probably a little bit ahead of other countries a few years ago in the way they approached the game, but now you see everyone has caught up.
The All Blacks recovered from their defeat to France with a blistering 71-3 win over Namibia last Friday. A bonus-point win over Italy at Parc Olympique Lyonnais would see them leapfrog their opponents into second in Pool A.
All Blacks coach Ian Foster says looking back to the history of the last 20, 30 years doesn't mean a lot come Saturday and he thinks that's a positive sign for Italy.
Foster says they've taken a strategy of growing a young group coming through and they've clearly decided to change the way they play to say 'let's risk a little bit and see what happens', and it's worked.
Italy will play the All Blacks at 7am tomorrow.
