Grilling over, next step Wales

ABs, having dealt with the misery of defeat with honesty and openness, now move on

The All Blacks, still a little fragile emotionally after the devastation of their World Cup semifinal defeat at the hands of a dominant England, have moved on with the help of an honest team meeting then a “not pleasant” review yesterday in which several players had to don metaphorical bullet-proof vests.

The detail of what was discussed was not made public by assistant coach Ian Foster, Sam Cane or Sonny Bill Williams when they faced the media in Tokyo two days after the 19-7 defeat at Yokohama during which they hardly fired an attacking shot, and it’s unlikely ever to.

But it was a necessary evil to prepare for Friday’s bronze-medal play-off against Wales at Tokyo Stadium — a chance for redemption, according to Foster. Williams admitted he didn’t want to play the game at first but quickly changed his mind.

The smiles have become slightly less forced but the pain remains. It will be just as bad for Warren Gatland’s Wales and at least Foster and his players are a day ahead in what is effectively a grieving process.

But to get to that point the All Blacks had to rip the Band-Aid off.

“I think you know the answer to that one, it wasn’t pleasant,” Foster said of the examination of his team’s performance. “That’s what reviews are about. Generally an All Black review, whether you win or lose, is pretty harsh because we’re trying to improve our performance.

“This one was a really important one . . . it was a big occasion and we didn’t play as we wanted to.

“In that sense it was pretty similar to other reviews. It didn’t feel good but . . . you talk about things and get some clarity on [solutions].

“I don’t think you gain anything by not looking at it closely. The only way to move on is to be clear in your mind what the solutions are. That’s a mindset we’ve always had.

“We see it as a chance to somehow redeem ourselves . . . to show we’re a better team than what we showed last week. And for us as a group that’s really important. We’re actually pleased we’ve got the game. It’s not easy getting knocked out and then going home and spending all summer thinking ‘what if?’ We’ve been given an opportunity to address that.

“Whether it means a lot to other people is probably irrelevant to us.”

Midfielder Williams said it took only about 10 minutes to come around to the idea of putting the boots on again in what is likely to be his final appearance in the black jersey. He’s a possibility to start against Wales alongside Ryan Crotty, another set to leave. Ben Smith is also likely to feature before his departure. Flanker Ardie Savea, who has picked up a knee problem, is unlikely to play.

“Straight after the game on Saturday, to be honest I didn’t really want to play this week,” Williams said. “But within the space of five or 10 minutes I flipped the script and I was grateful to my creator for being able to be on the field with some great guys.

“We went through the review process this morning. Some of the boys had bullet-proof vests on but we stepped up and we owned it and now we’re just going to . . . get out there this weekend and do what we do.”

Cane admitted he was becoming more used to the idea of defeat. He, like all the All Blacks, has dealt with it with honesty and openness. “Nothing good is gained from sulking or not moving,” he said.

“Things don’t always go the way you want them to. Sport teaches you that and that’s the way life is, too.”

For Williams, who has his pregnant wife and three children with him, the healing process is easier — up to a point. “My little one was out of whack and hadn’t slept too much.

“[But] I almost felt bad because I could walk around with a smile and genuinely feel it,” he said.