Bad calls hurt ABs – Cane
Sam Cane accepts the All Blacks’ leaders drove the team down some blind alleys in Wellington last Saturday night.
Although the All Blacks beat France 26-13 to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-test series, it’s unlikely peels of boisterous laughter echoed around their Dunedin hotel meeting room during the post-match debrief yesterday.
That’s because All Blacks coach Steve Hansen and his assistants had a heap of the nasty stuff to show off to their men ahead of the third test in the southern city this weekend.
Even with the French reduced to 14 men, a result of fullback Benjamin Fall being red-carded in the 12th minute, the All Blacks operated like they had just stepped out of a different time zone. The statistics sheet reflected their lethargy: 30 missed tackles, 20 turnovers, 13 penalties conceded and a yellow card to TJ Perenara.
Openside flanker Cane, a member of the All Blacks’ leadership group which is headed by Sam Whitelock because regular skipper Kieran Read is still injured, reckons it’s the generals who have to cop some of the blame.
‘‘Certainly, if we had our time again we would deliver a few different messages,’’ said Cane, who admitted his side was too quick to try and exploit France’s lack of numbers in the back field.
‘‘Just because there is one man down and space out wide, let’s go through them first. Go through there until it’s really obvious. If we had our time again there would be a couple of different ways.’’