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‘We still believe’: All Blacks remain ‘confident’ despite Springboks ‘spanking’
In the early hours of Saturday morning, the sun defiantly rose over London in the wake of the All Blacks‘ disastrous loss to the Springboks at Twickenham.
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The nightmare from the night before was real, and the reality of the painful defeat continued to sink in for the All Blacks and their supporters as they began another day.
For All Blacks fans, it had felt like the world was coming to an end as the Boks ran away with a staggering 35-7 defeat at the home of English rugby.
More than 80,000 passionate fans watched on as the All Blacks fell to a troubling defeat mere weeks out from the World Cup. The Springboks, meanwhile, made a statement.
“It was, in many ways, a perfect storm. We probably had seven players who haven’t played a game of rugby in four weeks and they needed this game,” coach Ian Foster told reporters on Saturday.
“Our mindset was to go in really hard at it. I thought we looked rusty and quite frankly I thought South Africa was outstanding with how they pressured us in the areas that they wanted to pressure us.
“They coincided with a red card and there goes the game. It was still a game that we needed and we’ll make sure that we use that really, really well in a fortnight’s time.”
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Playmaker Beauden Barrett kicked off proceedings at Twickenham last night, and the vibrant crowd – most of them were Springboks fans, it seemed – let out a cheer.
Another chapter in the history books of his famous rivalry was set to be written, and Twickenham was the stage. Outside of a Rugby World Cup, it doesn’t get much bigger.
The Boks took control of the territory and possession battles early on, and had plenty of opportunities to open the scoring during the first 15 minutes.
But the All Blacks held firm. The wall of black jerseys stood strong as they continued to survive – but they were hanging on, and only just.
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Scott Barrett and captain Sam Cane were sent to the sin bin, and the South Africans eventually made the most of it.
Captain Siya Kolisi opened the scoring midway through the first term, and wing Kurt-Lee Arendse added another try to the Springboks’ tally shortly after. The All Blacks were stunned.
But a red card to Scott Barrett – which, it’s worth noting, was the result of two yellow cards – somewhat ended the All Blacks’ hopes of a comeback before the break.
The Springboks ran away with it in the second half, with a late try to Cam Roigard a minor glimmer of hope on an otherwise bleak night at Twickenham.
“(Discipline is) probably the one thing that bugs us because I think we’ve been making some big strides in that,” Foster added.
“Disciplines covers a whole lot of things, doesn’t it? It covers how you deal with a refs decision that you don’t quite agree with, how you respond to that.
“I thought some of the discipline issues early were over-eager and probably trying too hard. We can get a bit more clinical on that.
‘They key discipline areas that you’ve really got to look at is in that first 15 minutes we absorbed so much pressure… it’s actually just how we execute because if we’d been able to counterpunch at that point I think it might’ve been a different game.
“But big games, you have a few big moments and you’ve got to get good at them.”
The All Blacks take on Rugby World Cup hosts, and arguably the tournament favourites, France in a couple of weeks in Paris.
New Zealand were among the favourites to hoist the Webb Ellis Cup before playing South Africa, but that might change after the painful defeat.
But count out the All Blacks if you must – Ian Foster isn’t panicking, though, and neither are the players.
“We’re confident and it didn’t look like that and I know we got a good spanking yesterday so I’m not hiding from that fact.
“If you go through Tyrell, Ethan, Scott Barrett, you go through the likes of Jordie, Rieko, Beaudy, they haven’t played since the MCG and there’s not much we can do about that.
“We’re not panicking about that result last night. We knew we were going to get challenged, it’s not the result we wanted, but we still believe in the plan. I still believe we’ve got the group that needed to play.
“What we have got now is we’ve got a good litmus test of where we’re at.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Good summation Ned. Agree the Canes were out-muscled for once (except at the scrum!) by a focused Brumbies outfit. Tua deserves consideration for higher honors after the way he humbled Jordie and the Canes defense. Thankfully, his lack of eligibility for Oz keeps him from Joe’s plans. While I also agree the injuries affected the Canes performance, some players seemed to lack focus and intensity for this match. Perhaps after the Blues demolished the Brumbies, they thought it was going to be easy? A good reminder that any slip up in preparation can have a big affect on the result. Brumbies deserved that win.
1 Go to commentsKarl Dixon should never have been appointed this fixture, absolute disgrace, He’s not much of a referee anyway, didn't have the balls to send his mate care off
5 Go to commentsBrilliant article! Harry of 8/9
1 Go to comments‘UK athletes' have been in the NFL from the start.
1 Go to commentsIt’s going to be Scott Barrett. He’s the coaches mate and captain of a previously elite team. Ardie a great option but scooter has worked with the coach and Ardie still as big a leader as needed.
23 Go to commentsI commend Colin Scotts bio All Balls. He was the first Aussie to make it to NFL. But he was poached and did a full apprenticeship at the University of Hawaii. He was 130kgs surfed played 1st grade cricket etc. big guy by normal but not NFL standards and a top athlete. Even then the nfl were picking up Tongans and Samoans for their natural size and explosive power. They want explosive power not cardio from the big boys so a guy like Taniela Tupou would have been good if picked up young enough. He has fast twitch and they’d bulk the little lad up and give him something to do. soccer teams set up academies and look for Over Sara’s talent eg Messi was at Barcelona since a teenager and harry kewell went to Leeds as a teenager like 16 or something.
11 Go to commentsThe article alludes to the fact that this isn’t about picking a captain. But picking a great captain. So who would make for a great All Black captain - not just an obvious or safe shoo-in? I’m not sure Ardie’s the guy and Barret doesn’t stand out either.
23 Go to commentsI guess we may all agree on the fact, that the ABs and Boks are the two in contest for No 1 in rugby history (the triple-A sort of) …. the Wallabies, England and France are the next tier, with Ireland being the new kid in town (AA) …. in my view it makes little sense creating imaginary competitions (unless you have too much time to waste)
45 Go to commentsWhat a joke. Total joke and the pundits commentating, all of whom know a bit about the game, could barely disguise their contempt. Reaching for the card then pulling back when he realised a red card would carry further match suspensions is simply not his decision to make. A clear and obvious influence on the outcome of this match and indeed, the championship path.
5 Go to commentsI like the idea, in NZ the Ranfurly Shield and NPC coexist, both having their own bragging rights. The World Cup would be the pinnacle, but the competition and travels of these trophies would be interesting.
45 Go to commentsDon’t worry Sonny bill Williams leave that awkward situation about the curfew in the pass whoever it was it doesn’t matter its no big deal we back our All Blacks through the storm and the thunder until we see the Sun light again.
42 Go to commentsWho listens to this retard? He was a massive liability as a player but obviously a media sensation
42 Go to commentsI’m not surprised by such ‘virtue signalling’ by Sonny Boy. Butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. He’s such a pious Islamic muppet, imo.
42 Go to commentsI’ve actually never heard of the guy (then I don’t watch League as it is boring). But if he is good enough.. then good luck to him. If not, well, he can always return to league.
2 Go to commentsIt is pretty clear that by almost any measure that NZ are a more successful rugby nation than South Africa. Quite aside from the distasteful events during the last RWC final. NZ lead SA in all significant measurements.
45 Go to commentsDickson went to his pocket for a card, saw who it was, changed his mind and spoke at length to TMO. One angle clearly shows Care diving over a Saints player to kill the ball. 1st yellow, reason given for not Red was player was falling backwards. He was only falling backwards after contact with Lawes. Graham try should have stood. Mitchell did not have both hands on the ball, ball went forward from a Saints boot dragging over it. 2 intentional knock-on's. One of which had an overlap on the outside. If Quins are happy to win by intentional foul play, then it does not say much for them. Would appear to be a bad day for Karl Dickson, also for the RFU in appointing a Ref who spent 8 years as a player at one of the clubs.
5 Go to commentsLet’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
8 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
2 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
8 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
5 Go to comments