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'They punished us': Ardie Savea says All Blacks discipline 'let us down'
By Ned Lester
The All Blacks have lost their first-ever pool game at a Rugby World Cup in what started as a promising performance but fizzled out into another ill-disciplined affair.
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A try to the impressive Mark Telea in the opening two minutes put the boisterous Paris crowd on notice but execution was hard to come by thereafter for the New Zealand team.
The French had their nervous moments as well but grew into the game and didn’t relinquish the lead after winning it back in the 54th minute.
The All Blacks were ultimately outplayed in the winning moments of the match.
Postmatch, All Blacks captain Ardie Savea reflected on the loss.
“It was a battle,” Savea said. “It was going back and forth, back and forth.
“I think in that last 20 (minutes), our discipline let us down and we weren’t clinical enough in our half and they punished us. We gave a few penalties away and they punished us.
“We never got scoreboard pressure and when time’s running out, you may try a little bit hard and it just didn’t go our way tonight. We’ve got to regroup and keep going forward.”
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Savea was the stand-in captain after the team’s usual leader, Sam Cane, was ruled out the morning of the match.
“We’ve always got to stay ready and that was just one of the scenarios that happened. We’ve just got to adapt and adjust.
“It’s tough when you lose your skipper, but I thought the boys that came in, filled the job right. Just unfortunately didn’t get the win tonight.”
The All Blacks backline had some magical moments but the second half saw the team’s efforts to exit their own half be largely unsuccessful.
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Former All Black outside back Israel Dagg highlighted the “aimless kicking” as a key factor in the defeat.
While the loss is one for the history books, Savea eagerly emphasised the tournament is far from over for his side with a spot in the quarter-finals and beyond still to play for.
“We looked dangerous when we had the ball, but we just let ourselves down around being patient and clinical with our skill sets.
“We lost the battle tonight, but we’ve still got a war to win.”
Dull game with a lot of kicking and penalties
Both teams in slow motion
The opening ceremony was so bad it was funny
The chicken guy was the best part of the evening
All Blacks didn't get much luck in this game which never helps. Scoreline was a little flattering to France. ABs unforced errors and lack of discipline let France off the hook so often. Individual errors across the park is usually a bad sign.
Once the ABs were under some scoreboard pressure they just lost all of their structure, and spent a lot of tie trying to play rugby from their own 22.
The French outfoxed the AB's. Very hot temperatures to play in and they simply managed the conditions with superiority.
Its the same old news and excuses behind a very poor coach called fozzie he made more history today as he did 2 weeks ago and also since hes taking charge of our abs,this was so bad i wanted to turn if off,i dont think he sees it but we will be lucky to get to the quarters if Italy turn up n topple us then that would be biggest history ever lolz but then would be good aswell cause then fozzie will be finished and then razor can take over
It isn't just discipline..poor selections..poor tactics..poor leadership..we just aren't good enough.
Maybe the excessive amount of bacon I’ve eaten following this morning’s game has left me feeling more despondent than usual, but the Foster era is horrible. I just want it to be over.
Honestly, the ABs kicking game made me want to punch myself in the face. I was watching with family and there was so much groaning and swearing in the second half. It’s so frustrating to watch. We either booted the ball away or got penalised and handed it back. Have to say though that I thought the ref was excellent.
'aimless kicking'
The French played quite conservatively I thought and squeezed the ABs in the second half. Never broke out but pressure told, deserved their win.
To me, the ABs look rusty and missing key personnel is not helping. The sooner Lomax, Jordie Barrett, Retallick and Frizell are starting, the better. They probably need to stick to the #1 lineup for at least 2 of the 3 remaining pool games.
So in 2019 Ben Smith told us that we were not worthy winners of the World Cup because we lost a pool game to the AB’s. Now he will probably say South Africa did it so can we! 😂