Experienced hooker Keven Mealamu believes that the All Blacks must bury their past World Cup heartache and use the experience they gained in 2007 to motivate the team.

The All Blacks will join up for their first training camp of the year this week and will discuss the team's plans for the Tri-Nations and World Cup.

While New Zealand were head and shoulders above any other international team in 2010, Mealamu want them to keep advancing or risk their opponents going past them.

"It's really exciting looking at the way forward for the next couple of months," Mealamu told Sportal.

The Blues skipper was one of the members of the 2007 World Cup team that were unceremoniously dumped out of the competition by France in the quarterfinals.

"You remember the good things that have happened but the ones that really hurt never go away," he said. "It's something you can't go back and change.

"We've got a really good opportunity this year being able to play the World Cup at home and it's nice that we're a lot closer [in time]."

The core of the team that were at the previous World Cup are still with the All Blacks, with the feeling in the squad being that there was unfinished business in France that must been seen to this year.

"I think it is always handy to be able to draw back on those experiences [in 2007] and make sure we really learn from those as well," Mealamu said.

Mealamu has been particularly inspired by his Blues teammate Ali Williams, who has fought back from a number of long-term injuries to get back into the All Blacks squad.

"I think the thing you see with Ali is his love for the game," he said.

"Even though he has been injured for most of the last two years I have never seen someone work so hard to work his way back into a black jersey and never falter from that dream. To see him work his way back in, I am really proud for him."

It will take the kind of commitment shown by Williams to be embraced by the whole team to earn rugby's biggest prize.