Doubting Kiwis fired up All Blacks

Hello, you either have JavaScript turned off or an old version of Adobe's Flash Player.

AS if the Wallabies needed another hurdle last Saturday, it has emerged that a sceptical New Zealand public has emerged as the driving force behind the All Blacks' thumping victory in the Bledisloe Cup opener.

Following the 47-29 thrashing at ANZ Stadium, All Blacks coach Steve Hansen took the unusual step of making his own statement before fielding questions from reporters.

"I want to mention a few people," Hansen said, before turning to All Black captain Richie McCaw, seated next to him.

"To come back after having a break and everyone doubted him, to get through the 70 minutes like he did, shows the character of the bloke once again," Hansen said.

"So hopefully there won't be any more doubters.

"I want to talk a little bit about Aaron Cruden too. There's people that question-marked him at times at this level.

"I think he showed tonight that he is a true international player of world-class ability and he led the team very well.

"Ma'a Nonu is another person I'd like to mention, struggled all week with an ankle injury and probably played one of his better games for the All Blacks – and he's had some very good ones.

Hello, you either have JavaScript turned off or an old version of Adobe's Flash Player.

"And last but not least, a young man who came into the side with five minutes to go in training on Thursday, and played his first full international, Steve Luatua.

"I thought he was quite outstanding in his performance."

Before the Test, the cautious Wallabies had tip-toed around any suggestive questions from journalists that opened the door for criticism or questioning of any perceived Kiwis vulnerability.

But radio and internet commentary in New Zealand ran hot with fears that McCaw, starting his first professional game in eight months, was underdone and would be exposed.

There were doubts that Cruden would hold up to the pressure of replacing Dan Carter, and whether centre Nonu – unwanted by Super Rugby franchises – was still capable of delivering in the Test arena.

And when raging backrower Liam Messam was ruled out with a hamstring injury two days before the game, there was near panic at the thought of Luatua making his starting Test debut alongside McCaw in what could have literally been a very loose forward trio.

Luatua even admitted surprise that people would question McCaw's readiness for the game, which came on the back of less than 80 minutes of game-time for the Crusaders and in All Black trials.

"To be honest, yes (I was surprised)," Luatua said. "I think people don't see the work he does behind the scenes, and we see him around the track and at training, and he hasn't played a lot of footy but he's still gassing me."

It was no coincidence Hansen singled out those four after the game. It gave great insight into how his team - world champions, the undisputed best team in the game, on a decade-long Bledisloe Cup winning streak - finds any little tool of motivation to remain kings of the rugby jungle.

By Sunday afternoon Hansen was already pointing out weaknesses in his team's armoury and the danger of a wounded Wallabies side heading to Wellington to claim their first win in New Zealand since 2001.

"We did a number of things pretty effectively but there's a lot of stuff we have to get better at," Hansen said.

"We weren't overly happy with our set piece and the connection from our set piece to our backs at times wasn't great either.

"We'll work hard and see if we can create some more opportunities next week.

"We'll make sure our preparation's right and honest.

"There's been plenty of incidences where teams have lost by a big margins and then come and won the next week, we've done it ourselves the last time we lost here (2008) and turned it around the next week.

"It's all about keeping your attitude right, not getting ahead of yourself and keeping your feet firmly on the ground."

Meanwhile, Hansen said the scrum would be a major focus at training this week after a shoddy debut of the new "crouch, bind, set" system on the international stage.

Both teams were penalised by referee Craig Joubert for crooked feeds and illegal scrummaging, despite the new rules designed to cut the number of scrum re-starts and penalties.

"Obviously that's a major concern for both sides, both halfbacks from both sides were on yellow card warnings," Hansen said.

"The referees have shown their hand. We've just got to get it right."

Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang

Doubting Kiwis fired up All Blacks

Dengan url

http://sportifoclube.blogspot.com/2013/08/doubting-kiwis-fired-up-all-blacks.html

Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya

Doubting Kiwis fired up All Blacks

namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link

Doubting Kiwis fired up All Blacks

sebagai sumbernya