'They punished us': Ardie Savea says All Blacks discipline 'let us down'

The All Blacks have lost their first-ever pool game at a Rugby World Cup in what started as a promising performance but fizzled out into another ill-disciplined affair.

A try to the impressive Mark Telea in the opening two minutes put the boisterous Paris crowd on notice but execution was hard to come by thereafter for the New Zealand team.

The French had their nervous moments as well but grew into the game and didn’t relinquish the lead after winning it back in the 54th minute.

The All Blacks were ultimately outplayed in the winning moments of the match.

Postmatch, All Blacks captain Ardie Savea reflected on the loss.

“It was a battle,” Savea said. “It was going back and forth, back and forth.

“I think in that last 20 (minutes), our discipline let us down and we weren’t clinical enough in our half and they punished us. We gave a few penalties away and they punished us.

“We never got scoreboard pressure and when time’s running out, you may try a little bit hard and it just didn’t go our way tonight. We’ve got to regroup and keep going forward.”

Points Flow Chart

France win +14

Time in lead

47

Mins in lead

33

59%

% Of Game In Lead

41%

52%

Possession Last 10 min

48%

8

Points Last 10 min

0

Savea was the stand-in captain after the team’s usual leader, Sam Cane, was ruled out the morning of the match.

“We’ve always got to stay ready and that was just one of the scenarios that happened. We’ve just got to adapt and adjust.

“It’s tough when you lose your skipper, but I thought the boys that came in, filled the job right. Just unfortunately didn’t get the win tonight.”

The All Blacks backline had some magical moments but the second half saw the team’s efforts to exit their own half be largely unsuccessful.

Former All Black outside back Israel Dagg highlighted the “aimless kicking” as a key factor in the defeat.

While the loss is one for the history books, Savea eagerly emphasised the tournament is far from over for his side with a spot in the quarter-finals and beyond still to play for.

“We looked dangerous when we had the ball, but we just let ourselves down around being patient and clinical with our skill sets.

“We lost the battle tonight, but we’ve still got a war to win.”