Former New Zealand Rugby Union chief executive David Moffett has demanded the men responsible for the All Blacks' World Cup failure "be held accountable".

Moffett believes coach Graham Henry and NZRU deputy chief executive Steve Tew should have resigned immediately after the team's quarter-final loss to France.

Henry has already been told he will be replaced by the start of next year but Tew is set to land the top job when current chief executive Chris Moller stands down shortly.

"Let's not make excuses. It's the worse finish by an All Blacks side. There has to be accountability and the accountability starts with Graham Henry," Moffett told Radio Sport.

"I think he should have already done the right thing and resigned or else he should have been sacked and the other guy who I think is culpable is Steve Tew, who apparently is going to take over as chief executive.

"I've got no faith in his ability to take the New Zealand Rugby Union forward."

The NZRU have launched an inquiry into the team's troubles in the World Cup but Moffett believes the problems are clear.

He added: "The careers of the CEO and coach hinge on the whole campaign, which was fundamentally flawed from the beginning.

"I think we all decided we would get behind it and hope that it was going to be successful, and it wasn't. And there's no hiding from that point.

"Everybody who is trying to make excuses should have a good look at themselves.

"You can't make excuses. In actual fact, I prefer for the union to come along and say 'we stuffed this up, we know where we went wrong, we know what we're going to be doing', and get on with it.

"Instead, they're going to have internal/external reviews. You talk to the average Kiwi and they'll tell you what went wrong."

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