'People walking down the street bring it up': The All Blacks can't escape the 2019 semi-final
Acting All Blacks captain, Sam Whitelock has admitted the external talk around his side’s 2019 semi-final rematch with England has been impossible to avoid but remains resolute the internal noise has been minimal but productive.
The 142-cap-All Black is lining up for his sixth Twickenham test in his 12-year tenure with the All Blacks and expressed nothing but excitement to be returning to “the home of rugby”, summarising his anticipation with a typically understated remark: “24 hours out, can’t wait”.
The top-trending narrative around the match is undeniably how the two sides have not met since the 2019 Rugby World Cup semi-final, in which England eliminated the All Blacks’ title hopes in a powerful display of intent and physicality.
“Yeah, it’s there, it’s in history,” Whitelock said of the match. “We’ve had a few people walking down the street bring it up as well.
“We’re aware of it but at the same time, this group’s changed a lot since then, a lot of people and personnel have changed, a lot of structures and that’s just us and then you also look at them.
“We’re looking forward to getting out there, we haven’t played them since ’19 so I can’t wait to get out there.”
The Covid-19 pandemic deprived the rugby community of an earlier rematch and Whitelock noted the match now only served as motivation for the players who didn’t suffer the defeat in Japan.
“For a lot of the guys that were there, they know what it’s like playing against England in a big game and this is one of those big games so I wouldn’t say it’s the front of my mind personally, but definitely aware of what it’s like playing England here at the home of rugby at Twickenham.”
The 2019 match denied the All Blacks a shot at a World Cup three-peat and would eventually lead to South Africa lifting the Webb Ellis Cup.
While that tournament was three years ago now and much has changed, Whitelock acknowledged there were learnings to take out of the match.
“There’s always things you look at, England started really well and they just squeezed us out of the game and they did that really well, so that’s something that we’re aware of this week.
England started the 2019 showdown by forming a V formation in response to the haka and Eddie Jones’ recent remarks imply the English may have another plan for accepting the All Blacks’ iconic challenge.
“If they do that it’s obviously up to them,” Whitelock said of the rumours.
“It just shows that they’re accepting the challenge and you know, they can do what they want.
“For us, we’ve always done the Haka for ourselves, reconnecting with the people that have gone before us and also the people standing beside, in front of us. So that’s why we do it.
“If they feel like that’s going to help them, well good on them.
“I can’t say I’ve thought about it too much so we’ll just wait and see if it happens.
Comments on RugbyPass
I am really looking forward to Leigh Halfpenny playing his first Super rugby game for the Crusaders Playing a long side his former Welsh and Scarlets team mate Johnny McNicoll.Johnny has been playing great, back in a Crusaders jersey.The attack has strengthened big time. Also looking forward to David Havili at 10. David is a class act, it also allows Dallas McLeod to remain at 12. A good thing.
1 Go to commentsIf he had stopped insisting on playing in the backrow, instead of wing, where everyone told him he should, he would have been a Bok years ago….
11 Go to comments‘Salads don’t win scrums’ 😂 I love that.
19 Go to commentsCan’t wait for the article that talks about misogyny in Ireland. Somehow.
16 Go to commentsI would like to see a rule change, when the attacking team is held up over the try line, by allowing the defensive team to restart a goal line drop out releases the pressure for the defensive team, but what if the attacking team had to restart a tap 5m out from the defensive team it gives the attacking team to apply more pressure, there are endless options for the attacking side and it will keep the fans in suspence.
2 Go to commentsLess modern South African males predictably triggered.
16 Go to commentsMy heart is with Quins, but the head is convinced Toulouse have too much. Ntamack is back, his timing and wisdom has been missed.
1 Go to commentsWow, what a starting line up for the Sharks) Tasty up front,kremer vs Tshituka or venter …fiery ,,Lavannini ,,will he knobble etzebeth? Biggest game for belleau?
1 Go to commentsIt was rubbish to watch, Blues weren’t even present. Did what they had to do, nothing more. Should be better next week against canes.
1 Go to commentsI’ve just noticed that this match has an all-French refereeing team. Surely a game like this ought to have a neutral ref? Although looking at the BBC preview of the Saints game, Raynal is also down as reffing that - so there may be some confusion about who is reffing what.
1 Go to commentsIf Havili can play anywhere in the back line, why not first 5. #10.
11 Go to commentsThe dressing room had already left for their summer break before they ran out in Dublin that year, and that’s on the coach. Franco Smith has undoubtedly made progress, particularly their maul, developing squad players and increasing squad depth. And against a very tight budget too. That said they were too lightweight last year and got found out against both Toulon and Munster in consecutive games. Better this season so far but they’ve developed something of a slow start habit occasionally, most notably losing at home to Northampton who played them at their own game. Play offs will ultimately show whether there has been tangible progress on last year, or not…!
2 Go to commentsAustralian Rugby has been a disaster, by not incorporating learning from previous successful campaigns. QLD Reds 2011 - Waratahs 2014. Players, coaches and administrators appoint there representatives for scheduled meetings, organisation’s agreement’s assessments and correspondence. This why a unified Rugby Union under one entity works. Every Rugby nation has taken that path. Was most difficult in the Northern hemisphere with over 100 years of club rugby before the game become professional. Took a lot of humility for those unions to eventually work together.
7 Go to commentsThough Wilson’s sacking was pretty brutal, it wasn’t just down to that Leinster game; Glasgow had a lot of 2nd half collapses that season, in the URC and Europe, and only just scraped into the playoffs. Franco Smith has definitely been an improvement, some players are delivering far more than they did under Wilson.
2 Go to commentsjesus - that front 5!
1 Go to commentsShould be an absolute cracker of a game! Will be great to see DuPont & Ntamack in tandem once again🔥
1 Go to commentsBest team ever…. To have played? These guys are still pressure chokers. Came nowhere when it counted. What a joke
84 Go to commentsMusk defends anonymous terrorism, fascism, threats against individuals and children etc etc But a Rugby club account….lock ‘em up!!!
2 Go to commentsActually the era defining moment came a few years earlier. February 2002 to be precise, when Michael D Higgins as finance minister at the time introduced his sports persons tax relief bill to the dial. As the politicians of the day stated “It seems to be another daft K Club frolic born in Kildare amongst the well-paid professional jockeys with whom the Minister plays golf” and that the scheme represented “a savage uncaring vision of Ireland and one that should be condemned”. The irfu and Leinster would be nowhere near the position they are in today without this key component of the finances.
5 Go to commentsIt is crystal clear that people who make such threats on line should be tried and imprisoned. Those with responsibility in social media companies who don’t facilitate this should be convicted. In real life, I have free speech to approach someone like Reinach and verbally threaten him. I am risking a conviction or a slap but I could do it. In the old days, If someone anonymously threatened someone by letter the police would ask and use evidence from the postal system. Unlike the Post, social media companies have complete instant and legal access to the content in social media. They make money from the data, billions. Yet, they turn a blind eye to terrorism, Nazi-ism and industrial levels of threats against individuals including their address and childrens schools being published online all from ananoymous accounts not real people. They claim free speech. Free speech for anonymous trolls/voilent thugs threatening people under false names? The fault is with the perps but also social media companies who think anonymous personas posting death threats constitutes free speech.
2 Go to comments