‘I don’t take it personally’
Sam Cane insists yet another benching was not taken personally, as the under-fire All Blacks captain aims to lead his side out of yet another big hole.
Staring down the barrel after their historic home defeat to Argentina in Christchurch last weekend, the men in black are desperate for a response in their Rugby Championship rematch against the Pumas in Hamilton on Saturday night.
And while their skipper is feeling the heat from all corners – including former All Black John Kirwan calling for him to sit this game out in order to give Dalton Papalii a run – he isn’t distressed that his services weren’t required in the crunch final stages at Orangetheory Stadium after coach Ian Foster pulled the No 7 from the park in the 67th minute and replaced him with Akira Ioane.
‘‘That wasn’t pre-determined, or anything to do with me,’’ Cane confirmed yesterday. ‘‘But I back the coaches when they make a decision to sub someone, whether that’s me or anyone else.
‘‘They’re doing it with the best interests of the team at heart, that’s how decisions are made in this team. I don’t take it personally, by any means.’’
Cane’s benching brought back memories of last month’s seriesdeciding loss to Ireland in Wellington, when Foster opted to inject the fresh legs of Papalii in the final quarter. However, he is not the only test captain going around who doesn’t always go 80 minutes, and Cane has also been substituted in the All Blacks’ two wins this year, and twice (a win and a loss) in six games in his maiden season as captain in 2020.
Whether Foster has still seen enough from his openside flanker and chief leader to guarantee him a starting spot will be known when the team is announced tomorrow.
In the meantime, Cane is imploring his ‘‘hurting’’ side to show what it is made of, after a travel day which was ‘‘a bit gloomy’’, then an honest Monday morning review.
‘‘The highs and lows of professional sport, it’s real,’’ he said of what riding this emotional rollercoaster of the last few weeks had been like.
‘‘I think it just tests your resilience and your character. You’ve got to pick yourself back up and just focus on what’s important and go again.you’ve just got to front up, and own it.’’
Owning, in particular, a breakdown area that is so very much a Cane domain – and, he said, new attack coach Joe Schmidt – along with a penalty count which continues to be an issue every time the All Blacks come out on the losing side.
‘‘It’s a statistic that we’ve highlighted, when we do lose, the opposition kick a lot of penalties, and that’s obviously from our illdiscipline,’’ Cane said.
‘‘You look at the ones you can control . . . I think we had four offsides early in the first half. It’s reacting to their cleanouts and extending the length of the ruck, which changes the offside line.
‘‘But then we’re pretty eager to get off the line, we’ve got to have the mental patience or discipline.
‘‘You can become frustrated on the field for whatever reason, pressure can force individuals to do things they don’t want to do, because they’re trying to make a play, because they care, and they want a good result, and sometimes it can have a detrimental effect to what you’re trying to achieve.’’
Cane also dismissed any notion of the All Blacks going into last weekend’s test flat, on the come down from the Ellis Park high and after having Foster’s tenure through to the World Cup confirmed.
‘‘We had an outstanding training week down in Christchurch, because we had about five days at home, the boys came in fresh,’’ he said. So there was no indication during the week.
‘‘And I don’t think it was a horrible performance, by any means. That’s why I don’t think we’re way off. If we could’ve been a little bit more disciplined in that first half we could’ve put them under a lot more pressure, and potentially the game changes from there.
‘‘But we didn’t do that, and they’re a very good side, and I don’t think that can be underestimated in this whole thing.’’