'Stung the hell out of me': Sam Cane explains very clearly his role for the All Blacks
All Blacks captain Sam Cane has always had scrutiny with regards to his selection in the famous No 7 jersey.
Cane had massive shoes to fill as the heir to Richie McCaw as the All Blacks openside flanker in 2016, public pressure that only intensified when he took on the captaincy role in 2020 following the retirement of Kieran Read.
The New Zealand public has had an affinity for other No 7s during his career, Ardie Savea of the Hurricanes and more recently Dalton Papalii of the Blues.
However, the Chiefs’ loose forward has remained Ian Foster’s first choice option and team leader which has come with much criticism.
During the infamous Ireland series loss, Cane went after his opposite and World Rugby Player of the Year Josh van der Flier but came off second best.
The 31-year-old opened up with Scotty Stevenson in a revealing interview ahead of his third Rugby World Cup where he offered an insight into what the All Blacks want from an openside.
According to Cane, it is really the off-the-ball involvements that are high on the priority list whilst the more noticeable aspects, like winning turnovers at the ruck, are not part of the ‘key jobs’.
The first is to do with cleaning out the threats at the first ruck following a lineout and scrum.
“I have three key jobs in this team and the first is secure quick ball off our first strike from set piece,” Cane explained.
“I missed one last week [against Australia in Dunedin] and even if others didn’t notice it stung the hell out of me.”
One of the hallmarks of Cane’s game is his physicality in defence, but it is his ability to reload again that is monitored and measured.
The All Blacks have more opportunity to control the gain line the faster the openside can return to his feet to join the line.
“The second is to have the ability to make a tackle and to get back to my feet and into the defensive line to make another,” he said.
“We call those back-to-back efforts, and the statistics we keep around that are very comprehensive. I always want to be at the top in those statistics.”
The last key area is the force inflicted on attacking rucks to help generate quick ball for the attack.
The All Blacks are able to be at their best when the ruck speed is high.
“That third truly crucial area is to make sure I am hitting defenders hard at the breakdown, which then helps our attack set for the next strike,” he said.
“If I can do all those things well I can usually walk off the field feeling satisfied with the day’s work.”
All of three of the core responsibilities can go unnoticed to naked eye which could help explain the public indifference towards Cane as a player.
Only the data around speed can explain Cane’s effectiveness to the All Blacks which is not readily available.
Comments on RugbyPass
The first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
31 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
31 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
31 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to comments