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'Haven't seen him like that': Steve Hansen's epic halftime spray to All Blacks
By Patrick McKendry, NZ Herald
In attempting to adjust what he believed was an All Black attitude problem against Namibia in the first half, coach Steve Hansen took the direct route; he gave his players a halftime rev-up to end all rev-ups.
“It was one of the better ones and rightly so,” said Dane Coles after the 71-9 victory at Tokyo Stadium. “We deserved it so he got into the boys. It was direct, old school; it was bloody good. You don’t see too much of that these days so I was bloody enjoying it.”
Hooker Coles, who replaced Codie Taylor during the win also notable for two yellow cards to props Nepo Laulala and Ofa Tuungafasi, said he would rate the verbal torrent a nine out of 10 on the dressing room Richter scale, adding he knew what was coming as soon as Hansen uttered his first word.
Hansen told the assembled media that part of his team’s mental approach problem may have come because the All Blacks didn’t train as hard over the previous four days following their 63-0 win over Canada in Oita.
Adding to that is the fact that as the 23rd ranked team in the world, Namibia were never going to be a serious threat. But it was a malaise that may have subconsciously affected the management group too, Hansen said, and one which was quickly put right after halftime.
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The All Blacks scored four tries before the break and seven after it, a period during which they were far more accurate and physical at the breakdown. With that came quick ball and space for their multiple attacking weapons, including Sevu Reece, Jordie Barrett and Ben Smith, all of whom scored two tries each.
“We didn’t turn up with the right attitude and a lot of the boys are disappointed with the first half… the first 30 minutes especially,” prop Angus Ta’avao said.
“Give a lot of credit to Namibia, they came out firing and are a very spirited team – very physical. We didn’t look after our rucks that well and were a bit sloppy around the tackle area. And that was what Steve was really talking about. We needed to get back to being direct and getting back to our basic things. We showed a lot more of that in the second half.”
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Were Hansen’s words strong? “Yes they were… 100 per cent right and they had every right to be, although we were aware of it, we needed that and the boys came out firing in the second half and got back to being direct and looking after the ball.
“Hopefully we shouldn’t really need that from Steve again. I haven’t seen him [like that] in my short time in the black jersey, but I haven’t been in a side where we have started like that.
“It was good to see. Every coach needs to have that. You have to keep the boys honest when you need to. But hopefully that is the last time he needs to step in because it is our job as players to do our jobs.”
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The victory took the All Blacks to the top of Pool B ahead of their final pool game – Italy in Toyota City on Saturday. Italy have not impressed so far; they have wins over Canada and Namibia but were poor in losing 49-3 to the Boks in Shizuoka recently.
Regardless, the All Blacks are likely to take a new attitude into that match along with a new line-up. Richie Mo’unga and Beauden Barrett are likely to be back, as is Kieran Read. The All Blacks will be in knockout phase mode and the mental approach will be expected to be ruthless. Another rev-up is unlikely to be required.
This article first appeared on nzherald.co.nz and was republished with permission.
Matt Giteau and Mike Tindall predict their World Cup winners:
Comments on RugbyPass
Dagg is still trying to get enough headlines to make himself relevant enough to get a job. The Crusaders went back to square one at all levels. Shelve this season and nail the next one.
4 Go to commentsHe was in such great form. Sad for him but only a short term injury and it will be great to see him back for the finals.
1 Go to commentsAfter their 5/0 start, I had the Crusaders to finish Top 4 only…they lost the plot in Perth but will reload and back themselves vs 4th placed Rebels…
3 Go to commentsBoth nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
3 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
3 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
37 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
3 Go to comments