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Israel Dagg in 2011 and Nehe Milner-Skudder in 2015 set the Rugby World Cup alight with their special form and ability to create something out of nothing. If the All Blacks are to win in 2023, they need someone to bring that X-factor.
You sir are gaining my respect. This is the reaction of a man and not a cry baby. Take it on the chin and move on. You beat world number 1 Ireland. You lost to France and South Africa. We lost to Ireland. Any of the top 4 can beat each other on the day. In the end the boks had that extra bit of edge when the pressure was on. Pollard has ice in his veins.
Mounga and Jordie are exceptional footballers, but it wasn’t to be for them. On a different day they might kick those and win. That’s sport. Personally I think the Boks spent the most time adjusting their tackling technique, they drilled the level change into them. Foster just asked them nicely to do it. That’s not good enough with these laws. Maybe they also practiced level change, but it doesn’t look like they did.
You are missing one obvious name. Levi Aumua. He is destructive, and will have a season being honed by the Crusaders. I expect him to be a bench option at least, you simply can’t coach his physicality and the ability to go forward in a close game is massive. You’ve mentioned him above but the other one I expect to be starting sooner than later is Sullivan. I pray that Cotter gives him the 10 shirt at the Blues and lets him develop.
He is big and strong, can take the ball to the line and most importantly has a canon of a left boot. Given the right coaching I feel like he has the all the tools to be a long term starter at 10. I wonder if Razor will be tempted to move Savea to 7 now he doesn’t have to accommodate Cane. Grace is a more traditional 8 (if he can stay on the field). And we have Finau and Suafoa to slot in as physical 6’s
Sam Cane of New Zealand leaves the field at half-time during the Rugby World Cup Final match between New Zealand and South Africa at Stade de France on October 28, 2023 in Paris, France.
I can only offer South Africa my heartiest congratulations.
After watching them lose to the All Blacks at Mt Smart Stadium in July, I thought they were about to go the way of other ageing Rugby World Cup champions.
To me they had the look of New Zealand in 1991 and Australia in 1995 and were likely to pay the price for hanging onto guys whose best rugby days were behind them.
Throw in a 2023 tournament run that included physical encounters with Scotland, Ireland, France and England and I simply didn’t think some of those old blokes would have the legs to run with the All Blacks.
Well, I was wrong and the Springboks were the right winners of this Rugby World Cup. I was especially pleased for wing Cheslin Kolbe and captain Siya Kolisi, who would both have feared that spells in the sin bin might cost their team victory.
I’ve chuckled in the hours and days since the Springboks’ 12-11 win over the All Blacks.
It’s been comical to hear how many people aren’t familiar with the way rugby’s laws are interpreted or weren’t aware of the Television Match Official’s role.
This wasn’t a game that I’ll call contentious. I thought it was well-officiated and that the best team won.
I’d prefer that New Zealanders were better-equipped to take defeat in their stride, but it appears not.
After all, you can’t say we haven’t had practice in recent seasons.
This has been a poor era for our national side and you would be one-eyed in the extreme to suggest otherwise.
Let’s not rewrite history here. Let’s not pretend this is a great side who were robbed of victory, having been expertly prepared by their head coach.
The evidence simply doesn’t support the argument.
There are good players in this All Blacks’ team and I want to praise a few of them for their efforts in the final and this season.
Jordie Barrett was immense against the Springboks, as were Scott Barrett and Brodie Retallick. None of them could have done more to earn their team victory.
Aaron Smith was excellent and will be missed. Quite why he and Richie Mo’unga were replaced in the final is beyond me.
Mark Tele’a is another player whose performances are consistently outstanding. Ardie Savea too. Ethan de Groot and Tyrel Lomax aren’t far below that standard either.
That’s why I don’t support the argument – often put forward by apologists for coach Ian Foster – that we simply don’t have the cattle.
We had the talent, there just appeared to be something missing from that side. Call it consistency or clinical edge, there was just too great a disparity between this team’s best performance and its worst.
But I don’t think it’s grounds to scrap Super Rugby or rip up our player development pathway. It’s not time to change rugby’s laws or abandon the TMO.
We just need to take a breath, pass sober judgement over what worked and what didn’t in this coaching era and see what Scott Robertson can do when it’s his turn.
It’s a shame so many of this team won’t be around when Robertson assumes the head-coaching role, but such is the World Cup cycle.
It’ll be up to him to identify a new group of test footballers and quickly re-establish the winning culture that’s been the hallmark of All Black rugby.
If he can, he’ll be lauded. If not, then he’ll be subject to the sort of scrutiny that Foster got.
That’s high-performance sport.
For now, South Africa are world champions and deservedly so. More than that, they’re an inspirational and unifying force in a nation still facing massive social challenges.
The Springboks might not have played with huge style at this Rugby World Cup, but the substance of their squad is undoubted.
Theirs was a tough row to hoe, but they did it without fuss or excuses.
We’d do well to learn from that.
