'The World Cup is not going to be about attacking rugby' - What the stars had to say after the epic Springboks-All Blacks pool stage clash
Right from the spine-tingling rendition of ‘Kapa O Pango’, the All Blacks opening clash against old rivals Springboks lived up to expectations as an epic blockbuster on just the second day of the Rugby World Cup.
Billed as possibly the greatest pool game in history, the Springboks opened the match right on top with physical defence and a wave of possession. All Blacks’ flyhalf Richie Mo’unga said the side was under a lot of pressure.
“They put us under a lot of pressure. A lot of mistakes and a lot of the pressure came from ourselves. We were frantic and rushing things, so we needed to slow down. We needed to kick the ball back to them to put them under pressure,” he said.
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The All Blacks were able to get into the game on the back of winning the aerial contest, with two tries coming off the back of box kicks. The first one to George Bridge was set-up by a Mo’unga cross-kick after re-gathering the first kick.
“It was spur of the moment and just trusting my ability to see something and do it. I play a lot with Sevu Reece – me and him have a good relationship, so I was able to understand that he was free. He is really good at catching and making things happen,” Mo’unga explained.
Streaking down the edge, Reece found Smith back inside before a rampaging Savea set play up deep inside Springbok territory. On the next phase, winger George Bridge scored the first try of the match.
“When the ball got out to Beaudy (Barrett), I saw he had a prop in front of him. So, I told him to have a go at him (the South African prop), and then from there, he just managed to get the offload and I was in support,” said winger George Bridge.
All Blacks’ halfback Aaron Smith was just happy to get his kicking game right.
“It was great to get the box kick right. And then a spilt ball – that’s just rugby,” Smith said.
“For the first 20 minutes we were unable to go to any pressure and it was our first chance to execute something off the turnover ball. As New Zealanders we love playing off the turnover.”
One man who stood up for the All Blacks was flyhalf turned fullback Beauden Barrett, who took home man-of-the-match honours after a starring performance. Aaron Smith praised his usual halves partner.
“He’s an outstanding player and on his day he’s the best player in the world and we saw that tonight. I could hear him and I was trying to give him the ball every time he wanted it. When Beauden Barrett wants the ball, you just give it to him and watch out.”
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Richie Mo’unga also had high praise for Barrett, who thinks their partnership can continue to get better during the World Cup.
“Beauden was awesome for me. He supported me well and it’s good to have two decision-makers in the backline, and it’s something we can keep working on throughout the World Cup,” he said.
Springboks scrumhalf Faf de Klerk also pointed to the aerial game as a turning point in the contest and a penalty count that become insurmountable.
“They were technically very good, they were very good in the air. I think that’s where we lost the game,” De Klerk said.
“I believed that we could win it, (to) come back from behind, so the belief was there to win. But 11 penalties against two, it’s always going to be difficult coming back from that.
Replacement flanker Francois Louw also pin-pointed the high balls as a problem area for the side, but explained it was a collective effort that requires improvement.
“We could have done better in blocking their players when it came to those high balls.
“High balls are challenging, so we can’t blame it on any one player, it’s a collective effort. Unfortunately, they (New Zealand) capitalised on those errors.”
Springboks flyhalf Handre Pollard said that the side has to get better at the ‘small details’ and that everything has to be in place against the best team in the world.
“It’s not panic stations, it’s very calm. We’ve still got the confidence in the group and coaching staff. It’s those small details we’ve got to be better at.
“They (New Zealand) are for me arguably the best team in the world, and if you don’t have everything set in place every single time that’s what they are going to do to you.”
One man who gave the All Blacks fits all night was the electric Cheslin Kolbe, who finished with a game-high 124-running metres and double-digits in the defenders’ beaten column.
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“My first game in a World Cup is a memory I’ll take with me throughout my career. It’s not the result that we wanted. But it’s still a long competition,” he said.
Kolbe made three line breaks and almost pulled off spectacular long-range solo try only to be brought down by Richie Mo’unga. Kolbe says he should have put the pedal to the floor a bit earlier.
“He showed a good pair of wheels. I think I could have gone a bit quicker to his outside and backed myself. I’ll just make sure that whenever there’s another opportunity like that I’ll capitalise.”
“They played a very good kicking game. The World Cup is not going to be about attacking. There were a few balls we just couldn’t handle in the air.
The Springboks aren’t looking too far ahead, with a likely quarterfinal looming against Ireland if there are no surprise results in that pool.
“We’ll just keep our heads up high and keep on working for the next game and make sure that we don’t drop our heads.”
All Blacks’ press conference following win over South Africa:
Comments on RugbyPass
Dad Marty was also a handy rugby player for Linwood back in the day. Great bloke. Sensational softball career.
2 Go to commentsWhat ifs are always dangerous. If you look at the game before Sam cane got sent of SA was dominating. You could make the argument the going down to 14 men rallied the troops and made them have to play to win which is always dangerous.
129 Go to commentsOmg… you are bruised And battered Benny. Stop crying … the scoreboard speaks. What a pathetic lover you are.. 🤣🤣🤣
129 Go to commentsPacific Lions, cry me a river
129 Go to commentsThis is the single worst piece of journalism I have ever seen since your last one. As a neutral, who really states that there should be an asterisk next to a win? You are an utter embarrassment to real AB fans, journalism and that joke of a house which pays you for this nonsense. Get a life, Ben.
129 Go to commentsGuys. Cancel the World Cup champions after this analysis. It changes everything. Ben knows. We’ll have to unengrave the Bokke off the trophy and hand it to the ABs, now that I’ve been enlightened about this illegitimate win. This needs to be done. Now!
129 Go to commentsBen is right here though, Springboks were woefully poor with the advantage they had throughout this game. The France match was heroic because that was an even contest this match had it taken place in Rugby Championship would have been an easy win for NZ. If anything this match should tell the Bok coaches that a lot of this team should be changed. They beat this same NZ team by record margin with the same circumstances but with a different core. They bring back the tried and tested guys and they nearly botch this game.
129 Go to commentsI knew who wrote this article from the first few words in the headline…lol. The red card actually did the ABs a favour. It galvanized them, only then did they step up a gear. Before that there was zero momentum.
129 Go to commentsFirstly the foul on Bongi was a planned move just like the NZ master plan with Bryce Lawrence you kiwis are filthy fux perhaps try to play a cleaner game next time I doubt that’s possible tho but don’t worry world rugby is on yr side they trying to take away all the BOKS strengths to help all you weakling as Jeremy Clarkson would say LA OO ZA ERR..🤣
129 Go to commentsAbsolutely spot on Ben. I certainly wouldn't gloat over a win like that. Frustrating as it is it's done and dusted and history will forever show the result.
129 Go to commentsHo hum.
129 Go to commentsNo question they were the better team. But that is the beauty of sport isn’t it!
129 Go to commentsEveryone is into Hurling in Ireland according to Porter, but only 11 of Ireland's 32 counties enter a team into the national competition. Same old blarney.
1 Go to commentsLet’s be honest. The draw and scheduling in the World Cup was a joke but South Africa found a way after having to go the hard (nearly impossible) way to the Cup Final via France and England. NZ had a hard game against France (lost) and had 5 weeks to prepare for the Quarter, 3 weeks knowing it was Ireland. NZ theerfore had to win one big game against an Irish team who played SA and then Scotland 7 days before. They won and it was de facto a semi final because they were playing a relatively weak Argentina team and it was a walk over. In the final a very rested NZ team was playing a very tired SA team and still lost. They couldn’t score more than 11 points. Put another way SA had to find a way to win while tired and they achieved that. NZ should thank their lucky stars that they fixed the scheduling in 2015 otherwise they would be dealing with a Bok treble.
129 Go to commentsPerhaps if Bongi wasn’t targeted and removed from the game in the first 3 minutes it would have been quite a different game. Maybe if NZ also faced the same competition the Boks faced to their win NZ would have looked quite different. The final score shows who outplayed who.
129 Go to commentsRubbish article! Abuladze played most of Exeters matches when fit. He got injured against Glasgow a while ago and is out for the rest of the season, thats why he hasnt played for Exeter and Georgia recently. Do some proper research next time!
1 Go to commentsGotta love it when kids throw their toys out the pram and can’t hack it with the grown ups debate. Here’s looking at you turlough! 😉🤣
148 Go to commentsThey lost the game period move on
129 Go to commentsSpringboks won! Stop winging. You can change the game however much you and your rugby colonizing IRB want to and the Springboks will win you at that too. Your mind is colonized my friend get a life
129 Go to commentsBen, nobody gets fooled anymore by selective and biased data to support an hypothesis. Games are decided on such small margins these days that you win some and lose some, and dominance is a thing of the rugby past. Look at the RWC circle of fortune…. Ireland beats SA who beat France who beat NZ who beat Ireland. And so it goes on. Match officials help to eliminate real indiscretions. If they had been with us years before, no doubt results would have been different. Remember Andy Haden’s dive from a lineout in 1978 for which a match-wining penalty was awarded? Wales should have beaten the ABs that day. They took the loss like the gentlemen they were.
129 Go to comments