C'mon, us yanks aren't the only ones with egos... we're just more arrogant! Sorry to make an attempt to put this back on topic...
I agree it's poor form to slander another team to make up for one's own poor play. But we're talking about teams that are 'expected' to do better. There's an immense amount of pressure at the top. Makes people do funny things. If it was another team making a run at the top they would likely be the target.
off topic...thought they only played rugby and sang opera in NZ!