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Sean Fitzpatrick says 'the boot is on the other foot' in All Blacks' quarter-final
Rugby World Cup winning All Black great Sean Fitzpatrick is cautiously optimistic about New Zealand’s chances against Ireland in the second quarter-final, but is under no illusions his home nation is not favoured to win the contest.
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In an interview with Martin Devlin, Fitzpatrick was quick to address the elephant in the room and what he admitted was “not a good omen” for the All Blacks, recalling the last time the two spoke was in the build-up to 2019’s Rugby World Cup semi-final when New Zealand were eliminated by England.
To inspire some confidence to counteract any superstitious doubt that fact may provoke, the 92-time All Black was keen to explore some details that separate the two occasions.
“Obviously they’re the number one ranked team in the world at the moment,” he said on The Platform. “I feel we know a lot more about them than we did about England in 2019.”
The optimism was kept in moderation as Fitzpatrick expressed his general thoughts on the match.
“I thought we’d got over that physicality issue we had, but then Twickenham rolls around five or six weeks ago and I think that shook us a bit. Since then, and I was at the opening (World Cup) game live, and I thought for 40, 50, 60 minutes that we played really well, had lots of opportunities in that first half, just didn’t take them.
“So, I’m really excited about the 23, that we’ve got everyone available. I said for us to have any chance of beating the Irish, we’re going to need our 23 best players available, and I think we’ve got that.
“We’re in with a real chance and we’re playing against the best, so the boot is on the other foot.”
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Mark Telea is the only member of the All Blacks’ preferred starting XV unavailable for the clash, he is replaced by bulking winger Leicester Fainga’anuku.
The familiarity of the favourites tag has eluded the All Blacks since that Twickenham Test against the Springboks, but they are not the only ones heading into unchartered waters. If Ireland are to win the quarter-final, they will claim a semi-final birth for the first time in Rugby World Cup history.
In order for New Zealand to progress and condemn Irish fans to four more years of quarter-final jabs, Fitzpatrick says discipline is paramount.
“When we are at our best, everything operates. We don’t make mistakes, we don’t give away penalties, we just build pressure.
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“You look at France and Ireland, that’s what they’ve been doing. They just build pressure, build pressure, don’t get any yellow cards, don’t get any red cards, and ultimately, the door opens.
“And, you’ve got to take your opportunities. The teams that have beaten the All Blacks take their opportunities, and that’s what we need to do. In that opening 20-30 minutes, we have just got to be so clinical.
“You think about that opening game against the French, we had opportunities, but we didn’t take those opportunities and it came back to bit us later in the game.”
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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