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Sam Cane: ‘You look out for people in black jerseys in the crowd’
With veteran Sam Whitelock perched perfectly over the ball, referee Wayne Barnes raised his arm and awarded that penalty to the All Blacks in the dying stages of their thrilling Rugby World Cup quarter-final with Ireland.
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Playing in front of more than 78,000 at Stade de France, the New Zealanders went berserk as the relief, euphoria and emotion of the tense victory began to sink in. It meant the world to these players to stay alive at the World Cup, and the same could be said for their fans.
For the supporters draped in black at both the Parisian venue and back in Aotearoa, this victory is part of the rollercoaster that all sports fans love to endure. There are ups and downs, and there’s nothing better than seeing your team win.
The All Blacks sailed through uncharted waters this week as they carried the ‘underdogs’ tag into a World Cup quarter-final for the first time. For a team and fanbase that expects excellence, it was weird, unusual and potentially problematic.
New Zealand have only ever lost one quarter-final, and that was 16 years ago against France in Cardiff, but the All Blacks have hoisted the Webb Ellis Cup twice since and want to do so again.
But as captain Sam Cane discussed, having the unwavering support from the All Blacks’ fans to spur them on is a major boost in their quest for World Cup glory.
“The way we finished the game, you look out for people in black jerseys in the crowd and see the joy on their faces, you see people who made the effort to come and support us,” Cane told reporters.
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“I just want to thank them for that support. We feel it and we’re glad we could put a smile on their faces.”
It came down to one moment of brilliance from veteran Sam Whitelock. With just four points in it, Ireland built up 37 phases of attack as they looked to break through the All Blacks’ rock-solid defence.
Attack 
325
Passes
137
173
Ball Carries
120
301m
Post Contact Metres
236m
7
Line Breaks
6
They came close, it seemed, as they edged closer and closer to New Zealand’s 22 and beyond, but the All Blacks were simply too good. Whitelock got over the ball and deservedly won a match-winning penalty in his 151st Test in the black jersey.
The All Blacks began to celebrate, and they made the victory official a few moments later as they kicked the ball into touch.
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“What an incredible finish to a Test match. I think that’s the longest I’ve heard of or witnessed,” Cane added.
“The boys kept turning up for each other. I think the defence won us the test match tonight. History shows that teams that win World Cups are very good defensively. It is our benchmark going forward.
“We know how we want to play and what we’re about. It has been building up to a test match like this. When they scored, we knew what we needed to do to fix it, and we were confident we would make in-roads.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Think it was a great defensive performance by Northampton. They didn't have stage fright in the first half, the Nienaber defense smothered them. They limited Leinster to 15-3 in the first half. It could have been over by then. A great try from Leinster in the start of the second half looked to have sealed it. But Byrne missed another conversion. Northampton started trying little kicks behind the Leinster wingers. Leinster messed one and Smith brilliantly made the conversion. Leinster decided to tighten the game after Byrne missed a straight forward penalty. A few errors got NH into the 22 and they scored and converted with a few minutes left. Another brilliant steal from Lawes saw NH have a final attack which was turned over by Conan. A classic semi final. World record attendance of 82,300. Leinsters 3 week preparation warranted for this one.
1 Go to commentsJust came back from the game and the atmosphere was amazing. Players stayed afterwards for more than a hour to sign stuff and take photos with fans. Great day out.
5 Go to commentsA great game. The Sharks without Etsebeth are a shadow of the team compared to when he plays. The limitations of Some of the expensive Sharks players are being exposed. Credit to Clermont for some exhilaration play at times.
5 Go to comments100% Mr Owens. But who would want to be a referee.? It must be the most difficult job on earth.
1 Go to commentsStarts to be overdone and oversold this systematic SA narrative…which nevertheless has the merit in this case to recognise blatant refereeing mistakes in their favor
5 Go to commentsNice article. Shades of Steinbeck. They can win the final if they take the game seriously; but only if they take it seriously.
5 Go to commentsWhat a sad way to end a glittering career. Somebody should tell him to delete his social media accounts and face the consequences of what he's done. Then he should slip away quietly into obscurity. This isn't likely to happen, something tells me he'll be back in The Sun / Daily Mail sooner rather than later.
3 Go to commentsguys its fine! he understands why he did what he did and has taken accountability for it; why should he have to be accountable to a court? after all he did was abuse people in person - its not as if he was engaging in _online_ abuse!
3 Go to commentsChiefs flanker Kaylum Boshier yellow-carded for collapsing the scrum as it rolled towards the line. It was a maul….
1 Go to commentsyou know, i’m a leinster fan so I want Northampton to lose and it is gonna be tuff with Cortney lawes, Alex michell and the other guys🏉 lets go leinster🏉
1 Go to commentsWelcome to the Pro ranks. Those hard teams of old do hit the sole better though. its a dog fight at the top.
6 Go to commentsCan someone fill me in please, I've read a number of Ben Smith articles now and it seems he's got something again South Africa? Surely, this game was over and done with 7 months ago. Can't we have something a bit more interesting and relevant, or is this the calibre of journalist on this site?
237 Go to commentsNot sure what the Welsh are moaning about. They’ve had far more players off England, than England have had off Wales. Guys like Josh Hathaway and Kane James will play for Wales in the end. And they’ll be fsr better players for having played in the Gallagher Premiership, than they ever would have been had they stayed mired in the shambles that is Welsh rugby.
4 Go to commentsThis is all being blown totally out of proportion. First of all, since half the Irish team isn’t Irish - it’s very likely that none of the Irish players said that at all and, thus, we’re not being arrogant. Second, since half the Irish team is Kiwi - it’s very likely the Kiwi players were predicting a NZ SA World Cup final. Which they got spot on. Good on them!
163 Go to commentsAha. An Irishman with logic! Follow the flow: - Ireland peaks with a >80% win record between 2020 and 2023. And then… - crashes out of another QF at the WC; - Beat a poor French Team; - Beat 6N wooden spoonists Italy; - Play shite against eventual wooden spoonists Wales; - Lose against the most boring, “the worst English team ever” , a team widely regarded as unable to attack; - scrape through against Scotland. This article, No - Trimble, is on the money! Except for one glaring statement: _The Springboks have a few aces in the hole in this debate being the reigning world champions and official world number ones_ There is no debate, boys and girls. There it is. In black and white. “Reigning World Champions and OFFICIAL world number ones”. Come July, the overrated Andy Farrell and this overhyped team are going to enter into a world of hurt.
90 Go to commentsI’d like to know what homoerotic events Daniel enjoyed at 8th man. I clearly missed out!
20 Go to commentsThis article is missing some detail, like some actual context or info about what led to him abusing the ref.
2 Go to comments*They used to say that football is a gentleman sport watched by hooligans and rugby is a hooligan sport watched by gentlemen. How times have changed.*
3 Go to commentsexcept ot wasnt late wasnt late at all so dont know why you all saying its late he commits early and its your fault fir not paying attention
30 Go to commentsNot sure the Bulls need another average utility back in their ranks. Chamberlain has been ok for the Sharks but is by no means an X-Factor player. Bulls bought several utility backs which they barely use. A typical example would be Henry Immelman who plays mostly Fullback. The Bulls however have rarely played him this year and he has played wing or centre. Bulls want to build depth but seems like they have too many surplus players
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