What Sam Cane told his team after opening quarter stalemate against Italy
The All Blacks underwhelming performance against Italy in the opening stages of the match contributed to high levels of frustration according to returning captain Sam Cane.
The Italians were able to keep the visitors scoreless in the first 20-minutes which bolstered the home side’s spirits as the Kiwis handling contributed to a number of errors, as well as the return of lineout problems as the inexperienced pack tried to find their way.
Sam Cane spoke about his message to his team after a tepid opening quarter as they tried to get their attack firing, with an emphasis on trying not to look at the scoreboard as the game was locked in a 0-all stalemate.
“I think at that point in the game it can be easy to switch your attention from what needs to be done to what the scoreboard’s doing and worry about external things so it’s really important to focus in on what we can control,” Cane said.
“Pretty much the process of what’s next and what’s the next task.
“And look, it can be frustrating when we focus on the next task and then don’t get it right so we’ve got to reset and go again.
“Having the ability not to get frustrated, stay in it, and trust that we’ll get it right, and when we do, we can punish them.”
The All Blacks were finally able to crack the defence in the 27th minute when reserve halfback Finlay Christie scored his first test try. The Blues halfback was able to scoop up a loose ball after the Italians were pushed off their own ball from a scrum five metres out.
After finally getting on the scoreboard, the All Blacks were able to strike again quickly through Dane Coles off the back of a driving maul to build a 14-0 lead. A penalty from the restart allowed the visitors to kick to the corner and pressure the Italian pack again.
Cane said the game was a good ‘learning experience’ for some of the younger players in the side, who were reluctant to be at the front of the haka before the game.
“There were some testing times out there, in terms of the frustration levels when we couldn’t get the game going how we normally would like to but I think as Fozzie said, it was a pretty good learning experience for a lot of the young guys.
“It probably highlighted the lack of experience when we were trying to set up the haka and a lot of guys wanted to be in the back row.
“It was awesome to get back out there and I think I was proud of the way we didn’t allow frustrations to creep in and affect our game too much.”
Ian Foster said his side probably tried to ‘force’ things too much but credited the Italians for the way they put pressure on early in the game.
“I think we got put under a lot of pressure in that first 25 minutes and they found ways to slow the ball down,” he said.
“We tried to force our game a little bit and a lot of that was the pressure that they put us under so they probably deserve a lot of credit for the way they started that game, the Italians.
“I think what I was pleased with is that we started to just tighten our game up after a few errors and applied a lot of pressure on them, mainly through our set-piece, and that worked really, really well.
“But they stayed in the game right till the end and I think for this particular All Blacks team, it was a great test match for us to have because we didn’t get it our own way and we had to find a way.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Beautiful 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 …
30 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!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 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 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.
30 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.
9 Go to comments