'These experiences teach the young guys about fronting up when times are tough': Sam Cane's honest reflection on Chiefs campaign
2020 has been a challenging year for Chiefs skipper Sam Cane, but through all the noise about the teams’ poor run of results in Super Rugby Aotearoa has come a very simple message from a seasoned veteran who’s keen to focus on how it will better serve the franchise moving forward.
Growth. That’s where the Chiefs and incoming All Blacks captain wants to focus his attention right now.
The small margins have been what has hurt this Chiefs team the most, from the coaches to the players, being on the wrong side of the little moments in games has been the clear and obvious factor in many of the Chiefs’ losses throughout Super Rugby.
It’s this frustrating feeling when looking back at a campaign full of “if only we had done that” examples during review that Cane hopes will serve those who have signed on at the Chiefs long-term well moving forward.
The veteran loose forward doesn’t make excuses for the Chiefs’ fortunes, not for a single second, admitting that for himself personally, being involved in a side with this long a losing-streak has been foreign territory.
In an honest conversation with RugbyPass this week, Cane says that accountability within the Waikato-based franchise has never been higher and that the weekly reviews have been clear reminders that the definition of performance doesn’t just sit on the final result at the end of each 80 minutes.
“There is absolutely no doubt we’ve been disappointed with the results”, Cane said. “There’s been plenty of times when we’ve sat in the review and realised if we didn’t muck certain plays up then we would’ve been in with a better shot.”
Examples of the muck ups Cane talks about are many and represent the various microscopic moments in games that have tended to compound the Chiefs’ issues.
Whether it be some of the 50/50 passes, dropped balls, penalties at the breakdown, or badly directed kicks when keeping the ball in hand would’ve been the better option, these are the little moments that Cane and his teammates are refusing to shy away from now that the curtain has come down on the 2020 campaign.
The prevailing feeling within Chiefs camp is that more opportunities to cross the chalk have been lost versus those converted throughout 2020.
With that said, Cane points out that one key area of focus for the leadership group has been monitoring the levels of enthusiasm within the team during the difficult run.
On that front, the Chiefs have excelled remarkably, as anyone close to the environment during this time will report if being truly honest.
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Sitting at the bottom of the table and having not a single win on the belt sure looks like a bad place to end a season that started out with so much prospect, but what’s going on behind the scenes at Chiefs HQ is a fair conversation that Cane is willing to have and is arguably what the franchise should be measured against.
“These experiences teach the young guys about fronting up when times are tough, it’s about picking yourself off the deck and working hard to go again, knowing that through adversity you’ll become stronger and will be better off for this experience.”
Being a seasoned veteran and understanding that the majority of headlines will be about the final results, refereeing decisions, coaches and more, Cane says that the Chiefs leadership group has been internally focused on nurturing the team environment rather than worrying about the outside noise.
“We try to ensure that the players are living the values and standards that we expect of them. They’re doing really well on that front so you can’t be too frustrated at the players, it’s about having a growth mindset and keeping the belief which, in my opinion, has been shown in all the games we’ve played.”
In the immediate future, Cane will undergo return-to-play protocols after suffering a concussion in a nasty knock against the Hurricanes.
RugbyPass understands that All Black players will be allowed to play up to three games of Mitre 10 Cup rugby prior to the international window beginning in October/November, but whether or not Cane could feature at all for his beloved Bay of Plenty will be dependant on his recovery from concussion.
Comments on RugbyPass
Good 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 commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
19 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
7 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
19 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
7 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
7 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
26 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
19 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
26 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
19 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
84 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
7 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
19 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
14 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
19 Go to comments