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Savea calls on All Blacks to have ‘hard look at ourselves’ after Springboks demolition
By Finn Morton
Backrower Ardie Savea has given a blunt assessment of the All Blacks’ staggering loss to the Springboks at Twickenham on Friday night, saying the team must have a “hard look at ourselves.”
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It was a result that nobody in the rugby world saw coming. Fans were stunned, except for those who call South Africa home – they celebrated in the streets of Twickenham late into the night.
With the Rugby World Cup just a couple of weeks away, the Springboks made a statement with an emphatic 35-7 win in London.
The Springboks took control of the possession and territory battles during the opening exchanges, and never looked in danger of being bested by their fierce rivals.
First-half tries to captain Siya Kolisi and wing Kurt-Lee Arendse saw the Boks take a commanding 14-nil lead into the break. The All Blacks were made to pay for their poor discipline and costly mistakes.
Scott Barrett and captain Sam Cane were both sent to the sin bin during the opening quarter of the Test, and Barrett received another yellow just before half-time.
As we all know, two yellows make a red. The All Blacks were made to play the rest of the Test with a maximum of 14 players as Barrett became the first All Black to be sent off twice (Perth, 2019).
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New Zealand never stood a chance. The Springboks were even better after the break.
This Test will go down in history for all the wrong reasons for the All Blacks. In the illustrious history of one of the winningest teams in sports, it was their worst defeat ever.
“We’ve been doing our set piece our discipline has been awesome all season, just this game we let it slip,” Ardie Savea said after the Test.
“We’ll really have a hard look at ourselves because that’s not All Blacks standard, that’s not what the legacy demands of us.
“The Springboks were awesome. They played well, they came out firing, they just took away our game.”
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Ardie Savea and veteran Dane Coles spoke with reporters about 45 minutes after the full-time siren sounded. Both players were visibly battered and bruised.
They’d lost the battle, but there is a war to be won in the coming months. The Rugby World Cup is just around the corner.
“For us going into a World Cup, it’s a very clear reminder of set-piece; the importance of getting your scrum and lineout right and maintaining discipline,” Coach Ian Foster told reporters.
“I thought in the first 20 minutes, I thought our defence was actually outstanding and we were hanging in there but we kept giving them another shot at us.
“We were trying too hard and we gave them a really good opportunity, we couldn’t actually get away from that. Great performance by them and one that we’ll take a lot of lessons from.”
Looking forward to the fools writing the ABs off eating their words. Opener v France just became 10x more intense, add Retallick and Frizell and the physicality and athleticism changes a lot. Those first 20 are going to be amazing.
In the end a good game to get under the belt for the guys that hadn't played in a while, and those young guys to get a shot at the boks in front of 80,000. Bit rough they had to endure with a man down.
ABs could only play what they had, down a lock, down a blindside line out jumper.
Could be paying for not putting in a proper 8 in that can be used in a line out.
Can't wait for it to start, face France 1st, see where we are at really.
Congrats to Bokkies fans here. Your team was awesome. Depressing for me as a dedicated AB fan who has watched them play on tv without missing a test for 40 years. I was hoping we had improved this year. If I am honest we are in disarray and honestly I think we have sweet FA chance at this RWC. That was a disgrace to the Black jersey. SA, Ireland or France will take this.
You mean Springboks , or is it All Blackies? No, just no. All Blacks. Show some respect
All Blacks must have a good long look at themselves. And an even longer look at Cane and Barrett - side eyed.
Cane never should have been in the squad. He is foster mate .
Billy Harmon Tom Christie … better than him .
Razor coming … cane career over
An excoriating demolition of the All Blacks by the World Champions. The Boks forwards tormented the hapless New Zealand squad. One of the most dominant encounters I have seen and a game that has raised the spectre of New Zealand's propensity to choke in the pressure cooker of World Cup Rugby.
If you change the narrative how would South Africa have coped with playing the first half with 13 men for 15 minutes then the second half with only 14 players? The ABs penalised out of the game by a nervous referee who was out of his depth. I don’t think the ABs will be worried at all about the result, most of top team hadn’t played for 6 weeks & only arrived in the UK a week before the game. Whilst SA had two warmup games over there before this test. This was a banana skin game for NZ
It was a very special AB team, with a very special effort to win 2011 and 2015. One of the great stories in sport. Their record prior to that - serial chokers at the WC.
This team seems mentally frail. France must really back their chances now. Let’s hope the ABs bounce back strong against the French. Keep everyone grounded.
Sorry but Savea can talk us..but you cannot win the world cup with a poor squad and the worst coach in the history.
We have poor loose forwards. Finau should have been in the squad. Jordie shit center.
Where is Jason Ryan ' work on the scrum lineout breakdown ??
He is questionnable.
Forget this world cup. Bring on Razor now To rebuild with new génération talent youngers players .
Rebuild like eddie Jones with aussies.
Rebuild only with new youngers génération.
Other disaster vs France coming the 8th september.
Rebuild like Eddie Jones?! He was brought in to win the world cup and they won't go deep despite having the easy side of the draw. He hasn't even won a game this year. You've been caught up in the hype. World cup is the focus. Rebuild after that.
I can't believe how quickly all you guys turn on Jason Ryan after one poor performance. Everyone has been singing his praises for the turnaround of the forwards' performance. ABs wilted under intense pressure and gave away silly penalties. 11 in the first half. That's on the players not the forwards coach. Fairweather fans indeed.
Two yellows make a red. Also one yellow and one red make a red.
Barrett's attempted shoulder clearout to Marx's head was a red card offense with no mitigation. This is exactly the kind of thing that red cards are for. You can't shoulder charge someone's head at any point, never mind doing so when they are lying on the ground.
I don't wish the loss on NZ, but the only fair call is to impose a multi-game ban.
Except he didn't target the head but the shoulder and the yellow was not upgraded to a red but remained yellow. However 2 yellows = red. It was a dumb play but you're imagining a scenario that didn't happen.
Agreed. I can’t see how not.
Scott barrett stupid guy and specialist for yellow card. Ban this guy definitively out of the ABS. He has not brain this guy.