Thorne made his debut at the back-end of the Wallabies golden era before he played a key role in New Zealand winning the Bledisloe Cup in 2003. The All Blacks have not lost the trophy since.

The rivalry may seem lopsided, but Thorne, who was speaking as an ambassador for the new University of Wollongong Crusaders Global Rugby Program, said New Zealand will soon have a battle on their hands.

"I don't think the gap's actually as big as some people make out," Thorne said. "The internationals are always really competitive and there's a really exciting wave of young talent coming through.

"The Australian secondary schools team beat the New Zealand team at the end of last year and there's some really exciting players playing Super Rugby at the moment."

The UOW program will commence in 2021, with students to work with some of the sport's brightest coaches.

The opportunity doesn't come cheap, with students required to pay $15,000 on top of standard university fees to be involved.

Despite this, UOW Acting Vice-Chancellor Professor Alex Frino is confident the cost won't be a limiting factor for those who choose to pursue a place in the program.

"From the Tottenham experience, we want to start out with a group that's manageable and that will more benefit from the program," Frino said. "We are going to keep it relatively small at the start as we find our feet. As things progress, it could reach a reasonable size."