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'The duo are limited': SA pundit twists the knife into All Blacks and claims Boks will win Cup
By Kim Ekin
After a resounding 35-7 win over the All Blacks at Twickenham, one South African rugby pundit has put the boot into New Zealand ahead of the Rugby World Cup.
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The dominant win over the 14-man All Blacks was enough evidence to write off Ian Fosterās chances according to provocative rugby voice Mark Keohane, who predicted āthe Boks will send the All Blacks home in the quarter-finals.ā
His issue with the All Blacks stemmed from the captain & coach selection, with Sam Cane and Ian Foster not āinspirationalā enough to win the prized trophy.
āFor all the aura of the black jersey, for all the greatness in results in the mighty Richie McCaw and Dan Carter era, currently these All Blacks are led by the most ordinary captain and coach in Sam Cane and Ian Foster,ā he wrote for Keo.co.za.
āThe duo are limited. The two lack inspiration and they lack the type of presence of World Cup winners.ā
Despite lacking the āpresenceā of World Cup winners, Foster and Cane were both crowned champions in 2015. The head coach was an assistant under Hansen and Cane was the understudy to McCaw but played most matches.
With Ian Foster claiming that the All Blacks āgot what they wantedā after the 35-7 defeat, Keohane expressed his dismay at the positive attitude of the coach in the face of such a result.
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āThey led a team to the slaughter against the Springboks at Twickenham on Friday night. They lost by 28 points ā their worst in the history of the All Blacks,ā he said.
āSuch is the acceptance of New Zealanders, they actually found positives in their worst loss in history.
āHow is that the mindset of champions? It is one of knowing your team is going nowhere.ā
Despite winning the Bledisloe Cup, the Freedom Cup and the Rugby Championship throughout July, the loss of the inaugural Qatar Airways Cup in a warm-up fixture was a telling blow.
He predicted the All Blacks will go on to lose to France in the opener which would see them draw against Pool B winners South Africa, who would send them home with another defeat.
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The current number one ranked side, Ireland, would fall to hosts France in the other quarter-final.
āIreland, after the Boks have dealt with them in the Group stages, will be dealt with by France,ā he said.
The host nations and defending champions would meet in the final in Paris where āthe Boks to complete the most amazing World Cup doubleā and defeat France by 20 points at home.
MK is almost as bad as Jeff Wilson.
Keo is the last hack I would take advise from
No one cares about that score. It's the tournament scores that matter, in this year.
RSA may well meet and beat NZ in the quarters but it's not worth worrying about. Let's hope NZ and RSA both top their respective pools and meet in the final. That would be the perfect rematch.
What a load of absolute crap!! Sammy is a great player/ captain. It was only a warm up game what matters is can they win when it matters an I believe they can and will.
Can't wait for this WC to kick off! :-D
Every team has its record loss, some bigger than others - SA knows too well about that (2017) ;-) and later they went on to win the WC :-D
The points made about Sam Cane and Ian Foster are accurate and probably generous. The selection & development have been safety first since 2019. Cane is the most ineffectual openside flanker in my lifetime and Atrdie is not big big and mean enough for 8. I don't know if I can watch anymore AB games. It hurts too too too much.
The kiss of death from Keohane.
Pay no mind to Mark Keohane. He's a national embarrassment here in South Africa. Far too outspoken. Bit of a child, really.
Finally, a touch of class. You sir, are one of the good ones.
Plot twist:
ABs are sandbagging
Fozzie's a genius and about to pull the biggest bait-and-switch in rugby history to win the WC
Can only hope..
History is littered with teams hitting their peak before the RWC, only to get send packing.
Whoever wins this cup will have bloody deserve it.
He is a more crass version of Ben Smith - his stock-in-trade is controversy / click-bate /provocation. Needs traffic to make a $.
Most white South Africans are ashamed of what happened under Apartheid as well as every Keohane opinion piece.
We do get alot of nations talking themselves up after beating us with one less player, most of time we come back and smash them the next game, only Ireland has followed this up recently.
Well mate, its the nature of the smashing. Even if the All Blacks had 15 players, it would NOT have made ANY difference what so ever. IMO they've got too many average players in the pack.
De Groot
Fletcher-newall
Sam Cane
Coles - Way past his so called best.
Jacobson
Some guys are super rugby level players at best. Even tho some of them wont start most games, they are next in line & the combo was all wrong on Friday night.
France will be preparing for a storm.
yup - they sure do look good against 13 men
Jman you're boys were down to 13 men because they couldn't cope playing the game legally. The rules were the same for both teams; all the cards were deserved. But it seems that Foz is in denial like you, which is fine for the rest of us if you refuse to learn the lessons- you'll be out in the QF with that attitude.
BTW, I'm not a saffa, I watched the game because I love the contest between rugby's historically two greatest sides, and credit where it's due, that was an out and out demolition pure and simple and the scoreboard probably flattered the ABs TBH.
The two sides played against each other with equal numbers on the field for 45 minutes total and the AB's couldn't score during that time. The Boks scored 14 points with equal numbers on the field. I wouldn't rely too much on the 15 men story. In any event the Boks played with 14 men against France in France last year and only just got beat by a side that beat the AB's with all their men on the park. Jmann the obvious answer here is that the AB;s were just not good enough on the day. Last time out the ABs definitely outclassed the Boks. And they will be back. Of that I am sure. But for the time being - on that day - the Boks were in a different class. Let it go at that.
13 Men because no way ABs could legally stop the brute strength of Marx.
Yeah JMAN. Stop making excuses. All Blacks were TOTALLY ouplayed. You can argue with that. But that the thing with some kiwi fans i guess. You are just too arrogant.
š let the excuses begin!
Cant disagree comments re Cane and Foster, both journey men. If I was Boks I would be focused on Scotland. Not a given they will get out of their group. Red card 20 mins in against Scotland, and their world cup might become very interesting
Totally agree on Sam Cane and Foster.
Yeah wouldn't be too stressed about the Boks if my first game is against France, IN FRANCE.
Gregor Townsend must be loving all this talk of Ireland and SA as quarterfinalists. Same with Crowley and Italy.
Yep but its partly true as we got smashed, I am getting sick of these kinds of records. Razor in next year. Sure I hope Fozzy and Sam prove em wrong but I doubt it.
Razor is going to have a far worse squad to select from. Realistically this is the last WC for a few cycles where the abs have an albeit outside chance to win.
Maybe for now we just need to be grateful that weāre not England supporters. Itās a small thing but it makes me feel better during these rollercoaster times.
Looking forward to the AB's sticking this comment on dressing room wall
All those words are going to be bad for Keohaneās cholesterol.