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'They punished us': Ardie Savea says All Blacks discipline 'let us down'
By Ned Lester
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.
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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.”
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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.
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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.”
Dull game with a lot of kicking and penalties
Both teams in slow motion
The opening ceremony was so bad it was funny
The chicken guy was the best part of the evening
All Blacks didn't get much luck in this game which never helps. Scoreline was a little flattering to France. ABs unforced errors and lack of discipline let France off the hook so often. Individual errors across the park is usually a bad sign.
Once the ABs were under some scoreboard pressure they just lost all of their structure, and spent a lot of tie trying to play rugby from their own 22.
Didn't get much luck ? AB scored a touchdown and it counted as a try...!
The French outfoxed the AB's. Very hot temperatures to play in and they simply managed the conditions with superiority.
Its the same old news and excuses behind a very poor coach called fozzie he made more history today as he did 2 weeks ago and also since hes taking charge of our abs,this was so bad i wanted to turn if off,i dont think he sees it but we will be lucky to get to the quarters if Italy turn up n topple us then that would be biggest history ever lolz but then would be good aswell cause then fozzie will be finished and then razor can take over
Foster is finished anyway. It's just a pity he took the AB's with him.
It isn't just discipline..poor selections..poor tactics..poor leadership..we just aren't good enough.
Maybe the excessive amount of bacon I’ve eaten following this morning’s game has left me feeling more despondent than usual, but the Foster era is horrible. I just want it to be over.
He famously said watching the Boks beat the British and Irish Lion ent him to sleep. One must be careful what you put out there.
Agreed ive said this from the start since he took over charge hes created so much damage to our abs bring on razor already i really hope we get knocked out of pool play never know italy might show up n know we are there for the taking they almost did last time we played them lolz
Honestly, the ABs kicking game made me want to punch myself in the face. I was watching with family and there was so much groaning and swearing in the second half. It’s so frustrating to watch. We either booted the ball away or got penalised and handed it back. Have to say though that I thought the ref was excellent.
Agreed lolz the most stupid gameplan whats happen to basic rugby gameplans like build phases and run the damn ball hard and create pressure on the opponent
'aimless kicking'
- Israel Dagg
The French played quite conservatively I thought and squeezed the ABs in the second half. Never broke out but pressure told, deserved their win.
To me, the ABs look rusty and missing key personnel is not helping. The sooner Lomax, Jordie Barrett, Retallick and Frizell are starting, the better. They probably need to stick to the #1 lineup for at least 2 of the 3 remaining pool games.
The wriiting is on the wall we definitely won't get past the qf let alone make it because Italy might really show up and topple us u just never know but last time we played Italy they came so close oh thats right fozzie was in charge then too lolz
I’d play same lineup for all pool games. There is a 9 day break between Uruguay game and possible QF
So in 2019 Ben Smith told us that we were not worthy winners of the World Cup because we lost a pool game to the AB’s. Now he will probably say South Africa did it so can we! 😂
Neither France nor the ABs looked like WC contenders tonight. Massively disappointing match riddled with schoolboy errors and aimless kicking. The Irish, South Africans and even the Scots must be licking their chops for a Quarter Final showdown with either of these two mediocre teams.
We might not even get to the qf because italy are no slouch they almost beat us last time we played them or came very close neways lolz the sooner razor takes over the better
That French team missed 4 players and they are only going to get better. Not saying they will win but have little doubt they will make final
Things can change, but on the evidence of last night I'd put money on the Scots against both those teams. They beat France recently and of course people will say but that was not France's strongest team, but the answer to that is that in a WC you are never guaranteed of your strongest team as we saw tonight.
It was the opening game, it was always going to be a cagey affair. Mark of a good team is they always win even though they do not play well. Used to say that about the AB's back in the day.........