All Blacks address how Rieko Ioane behaved at full time versus Ireland
The All Blacks have addressed Rieko Ioane’s heated exchange with Johnny Sexton and ear-cupping antics following the final whistle being blown in their quarter-final win over Ireland.
Sexton, who had been involved in verbal exchanges with New Zealand players during last year’s series win in New Zealand, appeared to take exception to something said by Ioane as players shook hands.
Sexton, who could be seen mouthing expletives towards the All Blacks centre, shortly after Ioane said something to the retiring Ireland captain.
Sexton had to be held back by Jack Conan after Ioane apparently told him to “enjoy retirement” and “not to miss his flight home”. It is understood that other New Zealand players – who had made no bones about wanting revenge – had some choice words for the dejected Irish players.
Head coach Ian Foster and captain Sam Cane were asked about the exchanges and the fact that Ioane appeared to cup his ear to the Irish crowd, indicating that they were no longer singing.
“It happens on most sporting parks when tensions are high and a lot at stake,” said Foster. “Unfortunately, recently it’s also included players saying a few things to referees. Is it right for the game? I don’t know.
“It’s always been there. It’s highly competitive. You don’t hear a lot of players complaining about it.”
All Blacks captain Sam Cane, who was on the receiving end of some choice words from Peter O’Mahony last year during Ireland’s series win on NZ soil, also gave his take on it.
“It’s players’ different personalities and emotions running high in those moments. There’s always people who have different tactics but it’s always just left out there.”
It was clear that the win meant a great deal to the All Blacks, which is maybe the biggest compliment that they could pay to the Irish.
“That was the most proud All Blacks performance I’ve been part of,” said scrumhalf Aaron Smith. “The build-up, the emotion, the game, the spectacle itself. It felt like that game went on for two days, that second-half felt like forever. But it was so much fun and intensity and two teams just not giving up.
“For our boys to really control that last 10 minutes was the most proud moment. Then to defend 37 phases, stay onside, not to give them an opportunity and for one of our senior players to nail the moment was pretty special.
“Then you look at the other quarter-final, what a game as well. That’s the beauty of this World Cup. It’s been a spectacle the whole way. The French public, the stadiums, the weather. As a player you appreciate how much has gone into this tournament and to still be a part of it is such a blessing. As players it’s your opportunity to make sure you prepare and give it absolutely everything each day for when you get a chance to play.
“We are lucky enough to have another opportunity this weekend and we want to be better than we were last week.”
Comments on RugbyPass
I’m looking forward to attending the Twickenham match, I don’t think it will have a bearing on the outcome of the grand prize itself but it will tell us more about each teams’ preparation and game plan. It’s hard to look past one of the big four (I’m including Canada) lifting the trophy in 2025 but sport is a curious thing, there will still be twists and turns in road ahead.
2 Go to commentsThe better side seems to be the losing side a lot these days. As far as narrative goes. Must be the big emergent culture of “participation awards” that have emerged in nanny states. ”It looked like New Zealand would take the game from there but lapses in execution let South Africa get back into the game. New Zealand’s goal kickers left five points out there, including a very make-able penalty on the stroke of half”. Sounds like a chronic problem… I wonder how the better team has lapses in concentration and execution? Or are those not important factors in the grand scheme of total performances? In 2023, the ABs at least didn’t give up a lead to lose. They just couldn’t execute to get the points and take the lead. This Baby AB result points to a choke - letting the game slip through your fingers. In the words of the great Ricky Bobby’s dad - “If you’re not 1st you’re last!” Loosely translated - if you didn’t win, you’re a loser.
9 Go to commentsWith Stuart Lancaster at the helm, Racing 92 looks more and more a mercenaries club like Toulon some years ago and they are not even performing despite all the money on offer.
4 Go to commentsCouple of things BS missed: wind was behind the Baby Blacks in the first half. Baby Boks got points from a scrum penalty in the final quarter against this ‘dominant pack’, and left three points on the park after a missed penalty.
9 Go to commentsSensible thoughts on this, Brett. Also worth considering we’ve sold 60k tickets for a game between the Rebels and the Lions next year. Got to be roughly $10m in ticket and game day revenue there.
5 Go to commentsUnsuccessful bitter ex Ulster player taking a pop shot at a side that isn't including his consistently poor mates up north
4 Go to commentsHis decision to play in France isn’t a petulant decision as this article suggests. I reckon that France is the perfect place to demonstrate that he can mix it in those battles Rassie references. It’s a good decision to try get into the squad. My personal opinion is that he wins more battles than he loses. I don’t have Rassie’s stats machine behind me, but Daymian’s is so strong moving through traffic and in the rip.
4 Go to commentsWow! Argie forward dominance is something I have not read in years….
1 Go to commentsIs the ‘snub’ really why he is leaving? He hasn’t said that has he? You don’t have to stay in SA to play for the Boks, so it’s not that he’s giving up on trying to get into the squad as the case would be in, say, England or New Zealand. Rassie made it clear that the early camps won’t feature all the players to play for the Boks this year so I can’t imagine Dayimani was too offended by being overlooked this time. It just seems like a sensationalist angle to take for a story without really knowing the player’s intentions.
4 Go to commentsWell, it is easily one of the best Irish sides, it’s just that their historical standard is very low.
4 Go to commentsThe Irish side is good. They have lost 2 games in the last 23 tests. In the last 12 months they have have a 60% win rate against the top 5 sides in the world. Over the same period south africa have a 67% win rate against the top 5 teams, and New Zealand are at 40%.
4 Go to commentsOnly 1247 days until RWC 2027 starts Bin Smuth🤣Can’t wait to see how unhinged you’re still gonna get between now & then
200 Go to commentsany chance either team will improve on their u20 world cup performances this time around? I assume both sides will be deeply disappointed with how things went.
6 Go to commentsAnother poor articles by a poor journo, nothing new from Ben, at least you are consistently bad lol, geez I will try and watch the match later, clearly Benny was only looking to one end of the pitch, hard to tell whom the Baby Blacks were playing if it wasn’t in the header 😄😄
9 Go to commentsNz should have won. I didn't watch the game, but the ref was at fault and the bounce of the ball and the Bokke used the Bomb squad and the Bokke slow the game down and the Bokke scrum. They should remove the scrum. The Bokke are to strong. Not fair. Nz should have won
9 Go to commentsProbably the worst article on a rugby match I have ever read
200 Go to commentsWho hurt this man.. LoL 😭
200 Go to commentsIt unfortunate for the Jaguares that they became formidable just as super rugby as we knew came to an end. However, the idea of bringing them back is nonsensical. While I enjoyed the Jaguares and the South African flavour of the comp, a selling point of this incarnation of super rugby is that all games are on a decent time for an Aussie audience.
5 Go to commentslol that’s your opinion Ben, All Blacks benefited from a forward pass try, SA played 77 min without a recognised hooker, missed a no try conversion and a penalty could have would have but didn’t
200 Go to commentsBrett, from my distant perspective, I hope you get to keep the Rebels. Any ideas of teams from Japan or Argentina are just crazy. Won’t happen. If you look at logistics, it is much easier to get to LA from Auckland, Brisbane, Melbourne or Sydney than to Buenos Aires. All with direct non-stop daily flights. You may even get some “gringos” to watch the games, with some younger players compared to Giteau and Nonu who still “play” in the area. I think it is virtually impossible to get a competitive Argie team for SR. All Pumas are in Europe, almost all second tier players are also in Europe. Fringe players are in South American pro rugby tournament (and many still in the MLR!) but these players who might be most interested in joining a new Jaguares do not have the skills to compete. As I have been saying since the Jaguares joined, they should have had TWO teams to make logistics for visiting teams better and Argie player development improved as well. Jaguares/Pumas was not ideal. But this is where Pichot and his cronies did not think long enough. Further the country with he new president “No hay Plata” Milei is in a very difficult situation. Galperin, the richest man in Argentina owns the Miami franchise of MLR. I don’t think you can get him to invest in Argentina. Actually, he played rugby himself. He was a fly half. He is worth around $6 billion!
5 Go to comments