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'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.
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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.”
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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.
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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
Huge engine this guy and great to see him back ..The amount of clean outs he does at the ruck are ridiculous !!
3 Go to commentsThe level of desperation in this article is just embarrassing.
215 Go to commentsSome silly trolling in the comments.
8 Go to commentsEverywhere you turn some irish journo is advocating Ireland as the greatest, reasoning that the wc is a 4 year cycle event so, they say wc doesn’t matter it’s the rugby in between that should account for the accolade. If there was no wc then some substance could be gained, however in my opinion the moment that defined Ireland’s fate against the abs was 37 phases of repeated head bashing against a brick wall. If a change in strategy or a tinker with the game plan was executed then things could've been vastly different. And to point a finger the let down was in the hands of the number 10.
36 Go to commentsI have heard it asked if RA is essentially one of the part owners and I suppose therefor should be on the other side of these two parties. If they purchased the rebels and guaranteed them, and are responsible enough they incur Rebels penalties, where is this line drawn? Seems rough to have to pay a penalty for something were your involvement sees you on the side of the conned party, the creditors. If the Rebels directors themselves have given the club their money, 6mil worth right, why aren’t they also listed as sitting with RA and the Tax office? And the legal threat was either way, new Rebels or defunct, I can’t see how RA assume the threat was less likely enough to warrant comment about it in this article. Surely RA ignore that and only worry about whether they can defend it or not, which they have reported as being comfortable with. So in effect wouldn’t it be more accurate to say there is no further legal threat (or worry) in denying the deal. Unless the directors have reneged on that. > Returns of a Japanese team or even Argentinean side, the Jaguares, were said to be on the cards, as were the ideas of standing up brand new teams in Hawaii or even Los Angeles – crazy ideas that seemingly forgot the time zone issues often cited as a turn-off for viewers when the competition contained teams from South Africa. Those timezones are great for SR and are what will probably be needed to unlock its future (cant see it remaining without _atleast _help from Aus), day games here are night games on the West Coast of america, were potential viewers triple, win win. With one of the best and easiest ways to unlock that being to play games or a host a team there. Less good the further across Aus you get though. Jaguares wouldn’t be the same Jaguares, but I still would think it’s better having them than keeping the Rebels. The other options aren’t really realistic 25’ options, no. From reading this authors last article I think if the new board can get the investment they seem to be confident in, you keeping them simply for the amount of money they’ll be investing in the game. Then ditch them later if they’re not good enough without such a high budget. Use them to get Jaguares reintergration stronger, with more key players on board, and have success drive success.
11 Go to commentsYeah, and ours is waaay bigger than yours. Just as you's get a semi…oh hold on that never happens
36 Go to commentsLove watching
1 Go to commentsThe Melbourne Rebels lineout is a complete disaster so not surprisingly a kiwi coach of the Wallabies hires the worst lineout coach in the country and a foreigner to boot. No surprises whatsoever here…….
3 Go to commentsThank your for wasting 2 minutes of my life Daniel. There is a useful message in there somewhere but your delivery sucks.
7 Go to commentsBen Smith, you are cry baby
215 Go to commentsSux that homophobia is still a thing though. I wonder how many players who could have become legends never kept playing rugby because they felt unwelcome.
7 Go to commentsCrazy he’s only 28, feel like he’s been around forever - don’t mind the move, safe pair of hands and creates depth in a thin position for ABs. Hopefully aides Kemara’s growth also without thrusting too much responsibility on him
1 Go to commentsMen should show strength and be mean, but they should be able to show emotion to those close yo them in certain times, birth of your child, death of family, proud moment. This article is stupid
7 Go to commentsWhat a weak article…absolute drivel and clickbait, well done. Will stick to rugby365 thanks
7 Go to commentsHonest, discipline, humility… Priceless.
2 Go to commentsSo many excuses. No mention of the SA number 2 being taken out illegally in the 2nd minute. That act of foul play had a massive impact on the SA game. Face it, NZ play pretty dirty very regularly, and it’s only since 2016 they’ve been held to higher officiating standards via stricter officiating and TMO reviews. They deserved to have a man down. Sorry. Fix the yellow and red cards and NZ will win more RWCs. Plus, there WAS a knock on invalidating the one try, so it was NOT a try. Period. Here’s a Kleenex…
215 Go to commentsOverheard conversation between NZ and SA rugby fans everywhere: We’re the greatest! No! we’re the greatest! We’re the greatest! No we’re the greatest! Ireland are arrogant! True but they beat you! We’re the greatest! No! we’re the greatest! Etc. etc, etc.
36 Go to commentsTypical crap Aussie weather
11 Go to comments“If they’d have beaten England, I still feel we would have been talking ‘is this the best team ever,’ ‘is this the best team that’s ever played in the Six Nations'” he said. “I still think they’re not quite that good. I actually don’t think they’re that good.” So Trimble is saying he doesn’t think this is the best 6N team of all time. He is silent on if it is the best Irish team of all time. Can’t disagree with him. Just another misrepresentative clickbait headline from the guys at RP.
36 Go to commentsWow, do we really still have to listen to all the excuses and “unfairness” of it all. Even blaming the bounce of an egg shaped ball for the loss. But the article is about context, so what about the Springboks having to play the other 5 teams in the top 6 and still beating a comparatively rested AB team on a very empty tank.
215 Go to comments