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'I was being honest': Sam Cane breaks silence on 'brutal' All Blacks fans comment

(Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)

All Blacks captain Sam Cane has admitted he was “a wee bit” surprised by the backlash he received after comments he made about fans following the side’s loss to Argentina a fortnight ago.

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Plenty was made of Cane saying some fans were “brutal” and “might like to think they know a lot about the game of rugby but really they don’t” in an interview with Sky Sport‘s The Breakdown; with fans and media pouncing on the comments made.

Speaking on Friday morning ahead of the All Blacks’ rematch against the Pumas on Saturday, Cane said that sort of response is a risk of his approach to interviews.

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Ian Foster talks to media about team selection changes ahead of Argentina clash

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Ian Foster talks to media about team selection changes ahead of Argentina clash

“I’ve always spoken my mind and been reasonably honest, I hope most people will appreciate that,” Cane said. “It’d be easier to just do these interviews and play a pretty straight bat opposed to generic answers, but I suppose every now and then being honest may create some headlines.

“I was pretty happy with the whole interview as itself. If the whole interview is viewed it probably puts it into context.”

He wasn’t the only member of the All Blacks to address the backlash, with Ian Foster sharing his thoughts with Newstalk ZB‘s Martin Devlin last weekend.

Foster said he might not have agreed with the comments, he’s happy for his captain to share his thoughts.

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“When it comes to him expressing himself, I would like to think the New Zealand public know that their captain is going to say what he thinks. That’s what he does,” Foster said.

“Do I agree with what he said? Not really, and I know – talking to Sam he knows it too – that our fans are lovely.”

After back-to-back losses against Australia and Argentina in their most recent tests, Cane has found himself taking on some of the heat from fans and pundits as the captain of the team.

However, he said recent results hadn’t amped up the pressure, as it simply came with the job of being an All Black.

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“You always feel the pressure. There’s pressure to perform as an individual, now as captain, you feel the pressure of the team’s performance. But it would be weird if there wasn’t any pressure because it’s always been like that,” Cane said.

“My head’s in a pretty good place; I’m similar to the team, we’re very focused on what we can control and trying to get a good performance, blocking out any outside noise and just worrying about what’s important.”

The side has been hard at work to address some issues over the past couple of weeks following their loss to the Pumas, and coach Ian Foster has named a fairly similar side for this weekend’s game with just three changes to the starting XV – all in the pack.

Cane said it was a nice show of faith from the selectors, and gave the players an opportunity many of them were hungry to get.

“Everyone in the squad’s hurting. To get the opportunity to try right some wrongs and put some pride back in the All Blacks jersey is good for us.

“We’re coming up against one of the most passionate sides in world rugby on their day, so (we need) a wee bit more passion, but also just being physical and clinical and smart. That’s All Blacks rugby at its best so hopefully we can put that out there.”

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Bull Shark 7 minutes ago
Rassie Erasmus' Boks selection policy is becoming bizarre

To be fair, the only thing that drives engagement on this site is over the top critiques of Southern Hemisphere teams.


Or articles about people criticizing southern hemisphere teams.


Articles regarding the Northern Hemisphere also tend to be more positive than critical. I guess to also rile up kiwis and Saffers who seem to be the majority of followers in the comments section.


Despite being dialled into the Northern edition - I know sweet fokall about what’s going on in France.


And even less than fokall about what’s cutting in Japan - which has a fast growing, increasingly premium League competition emerging.


And let’s not talk about the pacific. Do they even play rugby Down there.


Oh and the Americas. I’ve read more articles about a young, stargazing Welshman’s foray into NFL than I have anything related to either the north and south continents of the Americas.


I will give credit that the women’s game is getting g decent airtime. But pat of the above is just pathetic coming from a World Rugby website.


Just consider the innovation emerging in Japan with the pedigree of coaches over there.


There’s so much good we could be reading.


Instead it’s unimaginative “critical for the sake of feigning controversial”. Which is lazy, because in order to pull that off all you need to be really good at is:


1. Being a doos;

2. Having an opinion.


No prior experience needed.


Which is not journalism. That’s like all or most of us in the comments section.


Anyway. Hopefully it will get better. The game is growing and the interest in the game is growing. Maybe it will attract more qualified journalists over time.

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