No big expectations on Cane
New captain Sam Cane shouldn’t receive a colourful burst from Steve Hansen if he makes a wrong decision against Italy in Rome tomorrow.
With All Blacks coach Hansen stating he doesn’t expect openside flanker Cane, who will lead the All Blacks for just the second time in what will be his 39th test, to get everything right at Stadio Olimpico you could say the pressure has been eased a notch or two.
Maybe. Maybe not. With regular skipper Kieran Read rested, Cane can reflect on his last outing in charge of the All Blacks, against Namibia in the World Cup pool match in London last year.
While the All Blacks won 58-14, they were flattered by the wide margin.
For periods they looked dreadfully out of sync against a side stacked with amateurs, blokes who had to pay their taxes by working as farmers, engineers or dentists.
After that match Cane was quiet, his muted responses to questions reflecting his frustration at the way the team played.
‘‘He is learning as a leader, so he won’t be perfect and we don’t expect him to be,’’ Hansen said ahead of the match in Rome.
Hansen urged Cane to lean on other leaders within the team, with his Chiefs co-captain Aaron Cruden an obvious candidate. No 8 Steven Luatua will be responsible for the lineout calls.
‘‘He [Cane] has to play well, he just came off a pretty strong performance, individually, against Ireland after being out for a while,’’ Hansen noted. ’’So the expectation is he will play well. You want him to be calm and assured.’’
Ben Smith is officially the team’s vice-captain, but he, like Read, is being kept on ice ahead of the much-anticipated re-match against Ireland in Dublin next weekend. The good news for Cane is that the days of the leaders, no matter which team they represent, being asked to operate in isolation are long gone. Messages are relayed from the coaches’ box to pitchside, where either the water carriers or the medical staff communicate them to the players.
Hansen and his assistants will be able to consult with their performance analyst staff, Jason Healy and former Leicester Tigers halfback Jamie Hamilton, if they feel the need to look at data and assist Cane by making substitutions.
While 12 changes have been made to this All Blacks team, Hansen, unsurprisingly, wants a better effort than the one which resulted in a 40-29 loss to Ireland in Chicago.
‘‘While it is not the same people playing, it is the same jersey and the same expectations.’’
Italy, even though they couldn’t manage a victory in the Six Nations, will be much more competitive than Namibia.
In addition to playing at home in front of their own passionate fans, a crowd in excess of 60,000 is expected, Italy will have watched Ireland beat a much stronger All Blacks side in Chicago last weekend and told each other that anything is possible.
Cruden said Cane’s experience at test and Super Rugby level meant he now had the confidence to be more talkative.
‘‘He is always a guy that likes to lead by his actions, but his understanding of the game, when to speak and what messages to deliver had been really crucial over the last few years.’’