The moment that changed All Blacks star Sam Cane's life
By Patrick McKendry, NZ Herald
Sam Cane can still remember the exact moment All Blacks coach Steve Hansen told him he would be captaining the team for the first time.
It was at the World Cup four years ago. A few days before the Namibia match, Cane was walking to a barber’s for a haircut near the team hotel in London when Hansen jumped out of a taxi for a word.
“I was hoping I would get to play that next game,” Cane told the Weekend Herald in Beppu as the All Blacks continue their preparations for their World Cup match against Canada on Wednesday.
“I went into that tournament with realistic expectations. Richie [McCaw] was skipper, so any game time I had would be awesome.
“[Hansen] said I was starting, which I was chuffed about, and then he followed it up by saying, ‘you’ll also be captain’. It wasn’t even on my radar. I can only liken it to when I was selected for the All Blacks for the first time. It was out of the blue and blew my mind.
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“The game was probably more difficult than what we anticipated and there was a lot of trouble at scrum time. I hadn’t captained the Chiefs in Super Rugby at that stage, so my experience of communicating with the referee and trying to get my point across was pretty poor, but it was a memorable experience.”
The now 27-year-old Cane considers himself lucky to still be playing rugby after breaking his neck in a test against South Africa in Pretoria last year.
The gist of it is this: Head caught in wrong position during ruck cleanout, vertebrae broken in two places and a slight dislocation.
The break was fixed by a steel plate and four screws, with the dislocated vertebrae pushed back “like the piece of a jigsaw puzzle”.
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Tough times for a tough young man. There’s no doubt it has changed his outlook.
“It has certainly made me appreciate playing rugby,” Cane says. “It’s helped me appreciate all the other things in life. Rugby is so important to me, but in that moment when I found out that I’d broken my neck, it was amazing that it didn’t matter any more. You think it means so much … all of a sudden, it was about life and quality of life. At the time, I was too scared to ask if I was going to be able to play rugby again. I was afraid I wouldn’t like the answer, so I waited a couple of days and they told me.”
After surgery the neck brace was supposed to come off after six weeks. A visit to the specialist put that back another six. None of it was easy and yet he knows it could have been so much worse.
“It didn’t take much to be thankful that I could get up and make my own breakfast. I know there are some people who have broken their necks and are wheelchair-bound for the rest of their lives. It put those things in perspective.”
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So to say he’s happy and grateful to be here is putting it mildly.
Cane was lucky to get the best medical care but he also owes a debt of gratitude to the support of his family, particularly fiancee Harriet Allen, and his coaches at the Chiefs.
Assistant Tabai Matson was a big supporter during his comeback; donning a tackle suit and being hit 200 times in just over two weeks as Cane readied himself for a Super Rugby return against the Blues at Eden Park in May.
Cane took a couple of matches to rediscover his full confidence — it came a week later in his team’s remarkably gritty win over the Reds in Hamilton — and hasn’t looked back.
He was always considered good leadership material. It’s why he was admitted into the All Blacks’ leadership group after only two years with the team, a daunting experience for a young man when the room includes such players as McCaw, Conrad Smith and Dan Cater.
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And it’s why this World Cup is different to the last for him and partly why he was so annoyed at not being able to return to the field after passing a concussion test during the 23-13 win over the Springboks in Yokohama last Saturday.
The openside flanker, who is building a cohesive and explosive partnership with fellow loosies Ardie Savea and Kieran Read, was adjudged to have taken too long to return to the field after the test, which was held in a room on the other side of the stadium. The law has since been amended and the 10 minutes allowed starts when the test begins.
“I was [annoyed] because if the officials had been in room and watched me. I couldn’t have passed the test any faster. I think because all your senses are heightened from playing, I had a better score than my baseline test.
“It’s a World Cup and all the training and things you do to stay in a position to play in a game like that — it was as close to a quarter-final as you can get — and to be denied the chance to play some minutes. They’ve put their hand up and it has changed, and that’s all you can really ask for. I’m glad we won.”
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Cane, a key part of the All Blacks pack, will see his stocks rise even further once Read leaves New Zealand to play club rugby in Japan.
And if the All Blacks go the whole way here after they backed up their 2011 triumph with success four year years ago, well, it will be very different for Cane.
“All going well, I’d have more of a role. I only got 30 seconds in the final [in 2015]. I was due to go on earlier until Bender [Ben Smith] got yellow-carded and it changed things.
“In 2015, I was stoked with the way the tournament went. I got to play every game and captained the team for the first time. Four years on, I have more of a leadership role and I want to have a big influence on our performances.”
This article first appeared on nzherald.co.nz and was republished with permission.
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Comments on RugbyPass
Really hope Kuruvoli and his partner rock the Canes.
1 Go to commentsI wonder what impact Samson has had on their attack, as the team seems less prone to trundle it up the middle, take the tackle and then trundle it up again. I lost faith in the coach last year as the Rebelss looked like a 2nd/3rd rate South African team. I also disliked Gordon standing back, often ignored as the forward battle went on and on. Maybe its our Aussie way of not getting off our A***’s until the enemy is at the gate.
83 Go to commentsThanks for the write up. Great to see the Rebs winning, I am a little interested in how they will go against the remaining kiwi teams, I think they’ve only played Hurricanes and Highlanders but how great to see these players performing!! I also see Parling has a job beyond June 30! A good move by RA? Also how do you fix the Rebels previously scratchy defence?
83 Go to commentsbe smart - go black
13 Go to commentsNext week the Crusaders hopefully have Scott Barrett back. Will be great to have the captain back. Hopefully he will be the All Black captain as well.
12 Go to commentsExciting place to be for the young fella. I expected he was French Polynesian when I saw him included in the France 6N squad (after seeing him in NZs), and therefor be strong grounds we might loose him to rugby down here. Good, in that he is good enough to warrant such a profile, and from a journalism’s fan interaction aspect, to finally get a back ground story on the fella. Hope he has settled into NZ OK and that at least one rugby country will fit with him to help his development, which, if so, he should surely continue for a few years, and then that he can experience France to it’s fullest with a bit more maturity and less reliance on family than you would have at his current age. A good 3 or 4 years before he would be ready for International duty if he wanted to wait. Of course he already sounds good enough to accept a call up, and to cap himself, in the more immediate future (he’d have to be very very good in the case of the ABs), and he’ll get a great taste of that being with the Canes who have a bunch who are just a few years further into their career and looking likely Internationals themselves.
13 Go to commentsI remember towards the end of the original broadcasting deal for Super rugby with Newscorp that there was talk about the competition expanding to improve negotiations for more money - more content, more cash. Professional rugby was still in its infancy then and I held an opposing view that if Super rugby was a truly valuable competition then it should attract more broadcasters to bid for the rights, thereby increasing the value without needing to add more teams and games. Unfortunately since the game turned professional, the tension between club, talent and country has only grown further. I would argue we’re already at a point in time where the present is the future. The only international competitions that matter are 6N, RC and RWC. The inter-hemisphere tours are only developmental for those competitions. The games that increasingly matter more to fans, sponsors and broadcasters are between the clubs. Particularly for European fans, there are multiple competitions to follow your teams fortunes every week. SA is not Europe but competes in a single continental competition, so the travel component will always be an impediment. It was worse in the bloated days of Super rugby when teams traversed between four continents - Africa, America, Asia and Australia. The percentage of players who represent their country is less than 5% of the professional player base, so the sense of sacrifice isn’t as strong a motivation for the rest who are more focused on playing professional rugby and earning as much from their body as they can. Rugby like cricket created the conundrum it’s constantly fighting a losing battle with.
4 Go to commentsOh wow… “But as La Rochelle proved in winning in Cape Town this season, a cross-continental away assignment need not spell the end of days.” La Rochelle actually proved quite the opposite. After traveling to Cape town and back they (back-to-back and current champs) got mercilessly thumped the next week. If travel is not the reason, why else would a full-strength powerhouse like La Rochelle get dumped on their @r$e$ one week later?
26 Go to commentsYou know he can land a winning conversion after the full time siren is up. (Even if it takes two attempts.)
5 Go to commentsA very insightful article from Jake. I would love to know how South African’s feel about their move to Europe. Do you prefer playing in Europe or want to go back to Super Rugby?
4 Go to commentspure fire
1 Go to commentsA very well thought out summary of all the relevant complications…agree with your ”refer the Cricket Test versus 20/20 comparison”. More also definitely doesn't necessarily mean better!
4 Go to commentsMust be something when you are only 19 y.o and both NZ and France want you. Btw he wasn’t the only new caledonian in french U20 as Robin Couly also lived in Noumea until 17. Hope he’s successful wherever he chooses to play.
13 Go to comments“Several key players in the Stade Rochelais squad are in their thirties” South Africans are going to hate the implications of that comment!
5 Go to commentsI know Leinster did a job on La Roche but shortly after HT Leinster were 30-13 ahead of them and at a similar time Toulouse were trailing Exeter. At 60 mins Leinster were 27 ahead but after 67 mins Toulouse were only 19 ahead before Exeter collapsed. That’s heavier scoring by Leinster against the Champions. I think people are looking at Toulouses total a little too much. I also think Northhampton are in with a real chance, albeit I’d put Leinster as favourites. If Leinster make the final I expect them to win by more than ten and with control.
5 Go to commentsHey Nick, your match analysis is decent but the top and tail not so much, a bit more random. For a start there’s a seismic difference in regenerating any club side over a test team. EJ pretty much had to urinate with the appendage he’d been given at test level whereas club success is impacted hugely by the budget. Look no further than Boudjellal’s Toulon project for a perfect example. The set ups at La Rochelle and Leinster are like chalk and cheese and you are correct that Leinster are ahead. Leinster are not just slightly ahead though, they are light years ahead on their plans, with the next gen champions cup team already blooded, seasoned and developing at speed from their time manning the fort in the URC while the cream play CC and tests. They have engineered a strong talent conveyor belt into their system, supported by private money funnelled into a couple of Leinster private schools. The really smart move from Leinster and the IRFU however is maximising the Irish Revenue tax breaks (tax relief on the best 10 years earnings refunded at retirement) to help keep all of their stars in Ireland and happy, while simultaneously funding marquee players consistently. And of course Barrett is the latest example. But in no way is he a “replacement for Henshaw”, he’s only there for one season!!! As for Rob Baxter, the best advice you can give him is to start lobbying Parliament and HMRC for a similar state subsidy, but don’t hold your breath… One thing Cullen has been very smart with is his coaching team. Very quickly he realised his need to supplement his skills, there was talk of him exiting after his first couple of years but he was extremely shrewd bringing in Lancaster and now Nienaber. That has worked superbly and added a layer that really has made a tangible difference. Apart from that you were bang on the money… 😉😂
5 Go to commentsNot sure exactly what went wrong for him at Glasgow but it’s pretty clear he ain’t Franco’s cup of tea. Suspect he would have been better served heading out of Scotland around the same time as Finn, Hoggy and Jonny!
1 Go to commentsBulls disrespected the Northampton supporters and the competition. Decide quickly, fully in or out.
26 Go to commentsI wonder if Parling was ever on England’s radar as a coach? Obviously Borthwick is a great lineout coach, but I do worry he might be taking on too much as both head coach and forwards coach.
1 Go to commentsJason Jenkins has one cap. When Etzebeth was his age he had over 80 caps. Experience matters. He will never amount to what Etzebeth has because he hasn’t been developed as an international player.
2 Go to comments