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‘It worried me’: The world knows the All Blacks ‘aren’t invincible’ anymore
The rest of the rugby world will believe that the “vulnerable” All Blacks “aren’t invincible” going into the upcoming Rugby World Cup, according to former New Zealand halfback Justin Marshall.
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Playing in front of more than 80,000 people at Twickenham on Friday, and with millions around the world watching on from home, the All Blacks were dominated by rivals South Africa.
New Zealand were beaten in a way that nobody saw coming, and former All Black Justin Marshall later described the defeat as “worrying” ahead of rugby’s showpiece event.
But the All Blacks, as they’ve shown during an otherwise flawless run under coach Ian Foster in 2023, are “more than capable” of hoisting the Webb Ellis Cup in late October.
“Capability-wise and the way that we can play, I don’t think it’s a big problem,” Marshall said on The Platform.
“The bigger picture is the fact that this side, all of a sudden after one Test match, regardless of how disappointing the performance was, doesn’t become a poor side.
“They are more than capable of winning this Rugby World Cup should they find their feet again. At the moment they shouldn’t be hugely doubting themselves.”
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The All Blacks’ disastrous display against the world champion Springboks saw them fall to their first defeat in five Tests this year.
New Zealand dominated the Springboks, as well as Los Pumas and the Wallabies, during a sensational Rugby Championship campaign last month. The All Blacks claimed that prestigious trophy, as well as the Freedom and Bledisloe Cups.
But that now infamous Test at Twickenham was a wakeup call that the New Zealanders may have needed before the World Cup. They lost, badly, and the world was watching.
“But I think the problem for them… the rest of the world are watching this game. It was the only game on a Friday night,” Marshall added.
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“Every other international side that are looking at the All Blacks… were watching their performance, but they were watching, more importantly, what was frustrating the All Blacks in not allowing them to play. They were gathering information from it.
“They’re all of a sudden getting confidence that the All Blacks aren’t invincible, they are vulnerable.
“It worried me that there was no counter punch over 80 minutes at all, there was nothing.
“The South Africans actually put us into our shell that much that it’s encouraging for the rest of the world to go, ‘We can shut this team down.’
“On the other side of the foot though Marty, the All Blacks will be going, ‘Why did that happen to us?’
“Hopefully they’ll be better for it.”
Comments on RugbyPass
What 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.
2 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.
40 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.
41 Go to commentsWho listens to this retard? He was a massive liability as a player but obviously a media sensation
41 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.
41 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.
40 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.
2 Go to commentsLet’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
4 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
1 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.
4 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
4 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
4 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
4 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
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