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Sam Cane ‘stoked’ with All Blacks’ defensive success at World Cup
Defence wins championships. It’s an old adage that’s thrown around time and time again in sports including American Football, football and of course rugby union.
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Over the coming days, a lot will be said about the 44 points that the All Blacks scored during their commanding semi-final win over Argentina on Friday night.
But the six scored against them was just as impressive. The All Blacks didn’t concede a try, and that deserves all the credit, plaudits and praise that fans can give.
New Zealand made 195 tackles against Argentina, which backs up their incredible defensive performance against a physical Irish outfit last weekend – completing 226 stops.
With defensive guru Scott McLeod guiding the team, the All Blacks have transformed themselves into a team that is now 80 minutes away from potentially winning the World Cup.
“I said last week that history shows the team who is one of the best defensively will end up winning the World Cup. There are a few guys in our team who are particularly passionate about it so it’s pretty strong,” captain Sam Cane said after the win over Argentina.
“A lot of credit has to go to [defence coach] Scott McLeod and [assistant coach] Joe Schmidt. We have a system now we really believe in, some skillsets within that, the individual tackles.
Match Summary 
2
Penalty Goals
1
0
Tries
7
0
Conversions
3
0
Drop Goals
0
153
Carries
167
6
Line Breaks
11
17
Turnovers Lost
8
3
Turnovers Won
5
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“There’s also the work the boys who are not playing do – learning the opposition shapes so we can train against them during the week as well. But we are pretty stoked not to concede any tries tonight. I am pretty proud of that.”
The All Blacks made a statement with their hard-fought 28-24 win over Ireland in the quarterfinals, but they knew that they’d need their A-game a week later against Los Pumas.
Argentina had been written off by many, but anything can happen in a semi-final. Wing Emiliano Boffelli scored the first points of the Test with an early penalty goal.
While the All Blacks looked stunned, if only for a moment, they soon took control with first-half tries to Will Jordan, Jordie Barrett and Shannon Frizell. They continued to dominate after the break as well.
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“We’ve played Argentina in the past and we know they are a team that can frustrate, stay in the fight and often accumulate points in threes. We wanted to be patient and a lot of credit has to go to the forward pack,” Cane told reporters on Friday.
“We wanted to scrum well and drive well and we made the most of our opportunities. The scrum penalty just before half-time allowed us to get down their end and score, that was huge. I am really pleased with the effort and we have to go again now.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Thanks for a much more balance piece Ned and not that BS that Bin Smuth just posted a short while ago. read this article and then Bin Smuth’s and tell me there isn’t a huge difference🙄
1 Go to commentsWere the Baby Boks part of this game or did the Baby Blacks play themselves?🤔 That man Bin Smuth once again does a little write-up on the game and it is like 95% about the Baby Blacks🤣 Glad he ends off with the Baby Blacks were actually in cruise control for most of the game and weren’t actually playing for the win WTF🤣🤣 Maybe he was expecting the Baby Blacks to run rampant….
1 Go to commentsOne does not expect anything more from Ben Smith who epitomises the worst of New Zealand media arrogance and an inability to balance what he has to say about any team that beats the All Blacks. His reference to context is pathetically thin. He does not comment that Frizell deserved a red card given his blatant manipulation of his body to ensure that he could drop his body weight onto Mbonambi’s lower leg. No mention of the ball lost forward before the All Black’s try (lost in-field of the 5 metre line and gathered beyond). The All Black commitment and effort was superb and there was little in it. Given the Springbok passage to the final and the loss of their hooker in the first three minutes, their resolve and capacity to win their fourth final out of eight attempts (not three out of ten) deserves the praise that has been forthcoming from media around the world, worth reading and listening to. Ben should join his “pundit” friends on TV - he would fit in well. This sort of article reduces any credibility Rugby Pass has ever had. Why persist with this sort of nonsense? The man does his country and a rugby blog a disservice.
184 Go to commentsEtzebeth went on to say: “I would never dream of saying that systems stay in place following a change in captain. To say that would be deeply, deeply, disrespectful of Siya. A while back an Irish person told me they would be fine without Sexton, so I’m just responding to that.”
3 Go to commentsClose games are what we want to see…. What a match it was…. I am sure that everyone was drained by the end of it. The reality of it all there has to be a winner and a loser. The fact that we still talking about it is almost 6 months to the day Rugby is the winner.. Asante sana… Here is to 2027 and what it will bring out.
184 Go to commentsIt’s going to be a good game. COYQ
1 Go to comments“Shock”, the guy was casually saying he was just slightly surprised. Nowadays if you say anything it gets taken completely out of context. Calm down everyone.
156 Go to commentsAll I can say after reading this bitter, sour, sad piece is… Thank you very much! This will be read in the change room just before kick off on 31 August…
184 Go to commentsLook, we know contradicting opinions and wacky comments bring readers and clicks, so well done to RP for allowing always-wrong-Ben to say something here. However RP needs to put a disclaimer next to his comments for their own credibility. NZ was and is incapable of acknowledging their opp beating them. They refused so with Ire and with Arg in 2022 and also the Boks in 2023 x 2. Nothing Ben says here holds water, NZ attacked backwards, except when Kolisi and Kolbe was off And cyncialy took out Bongi, we played without lineouts for 75mins. Kolisi and Kurt-Lee almost scored twice. Thats 3 vs 2 for Boks, but the Boks opportunities was legal. Boks should have been 16-3 up by half time. Tacticaly the Boks attacked better defended better scrummed better (without a hooker) kicked better and crossed the whitewash more times. Boks beat Fr Eng Nz to win in 23, comeon give some credit at least. Even Federer Verstappen NY Mets, Mamoa, was able to see a great human sport achievement by the Boks and their DNA Boks #RWC27 !🏉
184 Go to commentsForget the 85kg bit, that can become something else. However I do like the one off test on ANZAC day idea. SR plays Fri/ Sat, test players travel Sunday and the squads have the full week together before playing Saturday. Rest of SR has a week off. Either involve women's teams in same location or in the other country and rotate annually. Herbert is right in that change is needed.
3 Go to commentsI’ve read loads of nonsense before but this article takes the cake. Or perhaps someone changed the date for April Fool's Day.
3 Go to commentsReally Rugbypass? Ben Smith I think you forgot what the Springboks did to the All Blacks at Twickenham 8 weeks earlier? Springboks 35 All Blacks 7. There is alot of ifs and buts in your article. The All Blacks threw the sink at the Springboks and unfortunately they were not good enough regardless if they played with 14 men or not. It was the Springboks who forced the All Blacks to make mistakes! Sorry but not Sorry the Springboks is the best ever Rugby World Cup Nation in the world. 4 Cups baby!
184 Go to commentsYou just backed the Boks with that fantastic review! Well done! Have some cake!
184 Go to commentsBen Smith please write up something better than this. The Springboks would have won the world cup if you were 15 men on the field. They would have found a way, they always find a way to beat the All Blacks.
184 Go to commentsWow, there is a lot of “could have” and “ should have” in this waist of time dribble. I love the desperation in this story to search for a glimpse at a silver lining. Here are the facts, NZ was a badly coached and undisciplined shadow of their former glory. They never took the lead in a game they were never going to win.
184 Go to commentsGOTTA MAKE ‘THE GEORGE’ HAPPEN!!!! That’s a great idea! A trans Tasman midget battle on ANZAC Day. I don’t think the ABs Wallabies game should be a one off winner takes all though, just the first match with the other two later in the year with the RC. Reason being, no one will ever shut up about how aussies couldn’t win it when it was a 3 match series.
3 Go to comments@Ben smith. Thats knock out rugby. So honeslty who cares?
184 Go to commentsIt will interesting to know which Irish players said that…
2 Go to commentsNaaaww boys will be boys! Now run along ya wee scamp! Don’t let us catch you at again😏
1 Go to commentsGreat to have Ethan Blackadder back in the Crusaders in the last few weeks. One of the best all round loose forwards around. He played so well last week against the Rebels. Fantastic attitude Ethan has and his comments are spot on.
2 Go to comments