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'I am eating humble pie' - Wallabies legend congratulates All Blacks after criticising them last week

Campese and Horan 1991

Australian rugby great David Campese has admitted a lot can change in test rugby in a week.

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Last week the former winger said the 2020 version of the All Blacks were not living up to the side’s historically high standards following the 16-16 draw in the opening Bledisloe Cup clash in Wellington.

But he’s admitted to eating humble pie following Ian Foster’s side’s 27-7 victory in the second clash at Eden Park yesterday.

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Wallabies – Bledisloe 2 – Post Match Press Conference

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Wallabies – Bledisloe 2 – Post Match Press Conference

“Yes I am eating humble pie. I would just like to congratulate the All Blacks again,” Campese posted in a video on Instagram.

“Another great victory. It’s always good to gee people up before a game. Unfortunately, the Wallabies didn’t come through. I think the game just demonstrated when the All Blacks are under pressure they play very well.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CGgLzyXAl-E/?igshid=j2n0796ir1zq

“A great team effort and also what was important was that they were hungry. The Wallabies just seemed to think that last week’s game was going to help them this week. A very young team. We just need some more leaders on the field and we’ve got to realise if we haven’t got the ball we can’t win.

“Congratulations again. I’d like to thank all those All Blacks supporters who gave me hell over the weekend. But that’s life. I can move on. I can handle it,” he added.

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Speaking with Simon Barnett and Phil Gifford on Newstalk ZB last Tuesday, Campese used the example of Rieko Ioane’s botched try attempt in Wellington as a sign of the cracking of what was once a consistently-dominant side.

Ioane was denied his 25th test try after dropping the ball attempting his signature dive over the line, a mistake Campese believes would not have been allowed to happen in the past.

“Back in 1989 I got in trouble for the British Lions pass. All of Australia bagged me, they got into me and yet an All Black dives on the weekend and – as soon as he put the ball down I said to my son Jason… ‘he didn’t score that!’ – that’s not what normal All Blacks do.

“I know it’s a different era, I know I’m old, but that changed the game, that allowed the Wallabies to have some self-belief and get back into the game, one little mistake.”

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Campese went on to say that Ioane’s mistake was just one of many pieces of evidence in the Bledisloe opener of a side lacking the class of years gone by.

“You can just see little things starting to creep in that weren’t there before, maybe a lot of older guys are not there like Kieran Read and obviously the Richie McCaws who were so entrenched in the traditions and all that.

“Little things change games and that was just one of the things that I noticed… also the amount of mistakes under pressure the All Blacks made last week – yes, it’s the first test and we’ve had a lack of rugby – but that’s just uncharacteristic of the All Blacks.”

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Tom 6 hours ago
Will Bristol's daredevil 'Bears-ball' deliver the trophy they crave?

Also a Bristol fan and echo your sentiments.


I love watching Bristol but their approach will only get them so far I think. Exeter played like this when they first got promoted to the prem and had intermittent success, it wasn't until they wised up and played a more balanced game that they became a consistently top side.


I really want Bristol to continue playing this brand of rugby and I don't mind them running it from under their posts but I don't think they need to do it every single time. They need to be just a little bit more selective about when and where on the pitch they play. Every game they put themselves under so much needless pressure by turning the ball over under their posts trying to do kamikaze moves when it's not required. By all means run it from your goal line if there is a chance for a counter attack, we all want to see Bristol running in 100m tries from under their posts but I think until they learn when to do it and when to be pragmatic, they are unlikely to win the premiership.


Defense has been a real positive from Bristol, they've shown a lot of improvement there... And I will say that I think this kamikaze strategy they employ is a very good one for a struggling side and could be employed by Newcastle. It's seems to have turned around Gloucester's fortunes. The big advantage is even if you don't have the biggest and best players, what you have is cohesion. This is why Scotland keep battering England. England have better individuals but they look muddled as a team, trying to play a mixed strategy under coaches who lack charisma, the team has no identity. Scotland come out and give it full throttle from 1-15 even if they struggle against the top sides, sides like England and Wales who lack that identity drown under the relentless will and synergy of the Scots. If Newcastle did the same they could really surprise some people, I know the weather is bad up there but it hasn't bothered the Scots. Bristol can learn from Scotland too, Pat is on to something when he says the following but Scotland don't play test matches like headless chickens. They still play with the same level of clarity and ambition Bristol do but they are much better at picking their moments. They needed to go back to this mad game to get their cohesion back after a couple of seasons struggling but I hope they get a bit wiser from matches like Leinster and La Rochelle.


“If there’s clarity on what you’re trying to do as a team you can win anything.”

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