World rankings don't mean much to the coach of the New Zealand men's hockey team ahead of their opening match at the World Cup.
The Black Sticks face France to start their campaign in Bhubaneswar, India on Friday morning (NZ time).
New Zealand come into the tournament ranked ninth in the world, 11 places ahead of the 20th-ranked French.
However Black Sticks coach Darren Smith is adamant complacency won't be an issue for his side in the pool A clash.
Darren Smith Photo: Photosport
"There a team that's on the rise, with the Olympics in 2024 going to be there [in Paris].
"They also had a junior programme that was very successful in 2013, they finished second at the Junior World Cup. All those players have come through."
Smith is also guarding against taking the French lightly for another reason.
With the top qualifier in each pool advancing directly to the quarterfinals, a good performance in his team's first-up clash with France was key.
Especially with big challenges in reigning Olympic champions Argentina and eighth ranked Spain, who the New Zealand men have had very close battles with at recent major tournaments, following their tournament opener.
"You know if we can do the business on the first day, that's going to set us up well to do a good job against Argentina and make sure we front up against them.
"Then Spain is third in the pool, and we've had some pretty big battles against Spain."
Despite the pressure of performing well straight out of the gate against France, Smith belived his team was ready to start their World Cup on a winning note.
New Zealand played a three -match series in Malaysia on their way to India, finishing 2-1 winners after taking out the first two games.
Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur is the only overseas port that flies directly to host city Bhubaneshwar and Smith said his team were in good shape ahead of their match against France.
"It couldn't have been better travel into Bhubaneswar and it was an ideal little 10-day period where we could get everyone together and make sure we're tracking well.
"It was very beneficial in Malaysia and now where in Bhubaneswar we feel pretty well prepared."
As for what to expect for as the tournament panned out, Smith felt his vast experience as a player and coach at international level meant he had a fairly good track on that.
The 45-year-old played 212 tests for New Zealand over a 13-year period and spent six years as the team's assistant coach and four years in charge of the Irish women's team before taking over the Black Sticks.
"What you do now is that World Cup and Olympic Games for hockey are the absolute pinnacle and every team is ready to rock and has all the finer details all in place.
"Then everyone starts to hone in and get themselves so they're 100 per cent ready for every single game. We're no different."
