McCaw backs Cup blunders
22 Apr 2008
All Blacks captain Richie McCaw has backed his captaincy decisions in last year’s World Cup.
An independent report reviewing New Zealand’s Cup campaign revealed that McCaw ignored some of coach Graham Henry’s instructions. In the quarter-final loss against France, Henry ordered McCaw to set-up for a drop-kick, but the skipper chose to persist with trying to score a try or win a penalty.
The report also stated that the “leadership model” failed to deliver in the closing minutes and that the team didn’t ensure that the right decisions were taken. But when the report was released last week Henry backed the captain’s decision, and now McCaw has also chosen this stance.
“You always think about those things. The next time you are in that situation you might do something different,” McCaw told the press about not attempting the drop-goal.
“But that is the decision you make on the day and you just have to live with them.”
There has been much criticism since the report was released on Friday, some of it revolving around McCaw’s ability to lead the team from flank. McCaw has however laughed off these suggestions.
“I guess I am like anyone, no matter what position – you have got to learn as you go. I have never said that I have stopped learning. You are learning every time you go out onto the field.
“I don’t see it as being a problem but I guess everyone has got their opinion.”
72 Comments
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22 Apr 2008, 14:26 pm
#48 greatest13gerber: Couldn’t even do it in their own back yard!! Never!!!
22 Apr 2008, 14:39 pm
A wise man said to me that you have to lose first in order to learn how to win. All Blacks will be firing in 2011! Much like the Bulls did in the Super12/14. They learnt and then started winning! Seems they want to start learning again$ for a reason I dont know but ok.
22 Apr 2008, 15:12 pm
Hey Keo, have you been sending your interpid reporters to English media school?
Some of these headlines and journalistic licence taken on what was actually said wouldn’t look out of place in upstanding media publications like The Sun, The Mirror and The Daily Mail.
Please can you guys go back to reporting on what was actually said rather than what you wished/hoped/thought/dreamt was said.
Thanks
22 Apr 2008, 15:26 pm
The Frogs may be **** at winning the WC, but they know how to spoil a Kiwi party.
22 Apr 2008, 15:31 pm
Joe Maher,
Is it that unreasonable to think that the ABs believed they would score a try given the experiences of that team as a group?
Think of the last few years and the number of times they have sneaked a win at the death with late tries when things haven’t been going their way. Howlett vs the Boks in NZ in 2004, Mealamu vs Boks in NZ in 2005, Rokocoko vs Boks in SA in 2007.
The truth is, they have got out of jail so many times by scoring tries. By extension, when push came to shove in that QF, they backed themselves again to come up with the try.
In hindsight, it was a flawed decision because they lost. But the amount of possession and territory they had in the second half, gave them the feel that they could score a try.
You learn from your mistakes. Maybe the ABs will learn from theirs, as the Boks did from their defeats during White’s tenure. That’s the only reason I can see for the NZRU to break with tradition and retain their losing world cup coaches. They hope mistakes will be learned from.
Maybe the ABs will return to the dour, attritional, forward based, kicking game that the older AB teams of yester year were famed for? But the players they have at their disposal aren’t coached to play that that game anymore.
However, I need to take umbrage with one of your poiunts. To say the ABs were arrogant is lazy. If you were calling their fans arrogant, then you would have a point (albeit SA has as many one eyed arrogant fans as NZ does). If you were calling the coaches arrogant, you would again have a point and could use the players left out in that QF (Mauger, Jack) as examples of it. But the ABs themselves, as a group of players rarely, if ever, came across as arrogant. The fact that they gave 100% and won the majority of their matches over 4 years doesn’t make them arrogant.
On the day, they came up against an immovable object and they didn’t play as well as we all know they can. The French did it again and produced a performance of such passion that only the French can produce when all the odds are stacked up against them and they have been written off by all and sundry. The ABs lost. Teams do lose, and in knockout rugby, it only takes one loss to end the dreams of a team for 4 more years.
22 Apr 2008, 15:48 pm
Mauger,Mauger,Mauger!!!!!Best decision maker in world rugby was left out for flash in the pan,cant pass righthanded,poormans Carlos Spencer,Quadzilla=Luke McCallister!!!!
Not serious about life
22 Apr 2008, 15:55 pm
Is it me or are the Polynesians a “lil round” this yr…Had a lil bit too much Christmas pudding.
Weepu
Tialata
Afoa
Lauaki
Masoe
Moa
Ti’i Paulo
and more…look a lil sluggish….just coz the reconditioning programme flopped doesnt mean the gym is outlawed!!!!! LOL!!!!
22 Apr 2008, 15:57 pm
Funny how someone’s honest remarks can be turned into not so – thinly – veiled attacks to his team and nation.
Mshini
I find it hard to concieve myself why Mauger was left out of that team, imagine what he will achieve under Eddie Jones a rugby technician. And he has been singing praise for this man. I think i would be right if i say he is one of the most influential centers the game has seen.
22 Apr 2008, 16:07 pm
i think tackler should captain the all blacks with his extensive knowledge of the game. who agrees?
22 Apr 2008, 16:23 pm
I wont disagree when it comes to a handful of individuals who come into this forum and do their best to piss the Saffas off. It exists. But it is only a handful of what I suspect include a few ex South Africans.
But honestly, McCaw is one of the most successful captains ever, and I find it hard to accept that one error (had they scored it would have been considered the wisest desision BTW) is enough to attack the ABs. For goodness sake, we need to show them respect. They did not win, we did, but lets be better winners than the poms were… please.
22 Apr 2008, 16:26 pm
#56 mshiniwami: quadzilla – love it
22 Apr 2008, 16:59 pm
#52 THE MAULER:
By the time they learn from the losing, the guys who learned will retire and then its back to point 1…in 2011
22 Apr 2008, 17:03 pm
#56 mshiniwami:
aaron Mauger for me was a shoo in for the A side, couldnt believe it when they left him out, best distributor in NZ, maybe in the world. Only one mistake was made, the coach didnt make it clear who his starting line up was, this demotivated guys to a degree. Doug Howletts bad behaviour in the Holiday inn parking lot was probably directly attributable to this fact. The man had increased his pace, I thought they were going to take the Boks on at the wing, but anyway that game never happened.
22 Apr 2008, 20:13 pm
I think AB’s lost in 2007 and 2003 primarily because of 3-4 insane selections.
Key question I have is – will ELV’s be used at next WC? Northern hemisphere will do anything in their power to block that, probably will succeed in getting a IRB decision in their favor with a mere 6-9 months to go before WC kick-off time, reducing southern hemi teams chances by 50%.
Not much faith in IRB….
22 Apr 2008, 23:33 pm
Thats Life, the Boks are the Champions and we just have to wait until 2011.I hope we dont get a cheating pomming ref again.
22 Apr 2008, 23:37 pm
#44 greatest13gerber:
And for the next 3 years all i will hear on this site,South Africans excuses for losing: Politics,bad refs,travel,SARU,mummy wasnt on tour to make the players chicken soup and tuck them in at nights,injured player,naughty e-mails between refs,and the pricing of gold cos gold watches are not that cheap these days.
We lost the RWC and it wasnt nice here for a while,we are passionate about this game,we can be a bit over the top,but you take the good with the bad.Some posters on here a very disillusioned when it comes to the ABs.As Stodders has pointed out,we fans can be arrogant,the coaches maybe as well,but the players cant be blamed for trying to win the game the way it has worked for them in the last 3 years.
I am glad SA won the RWC,and again i will say congratulations,i reckon that is about the 100th time i have said that on here,i think some people want to hear it every day.If SA lost the RWC,i reckon a few of these posters wouldnt even be on here and i would say majority of the posts would be so different.
23 Apr 2008, 00:49 am
lets all get over the world cup already. s14 is getting exciting (although no points for guessing the eventual winner) and the international season is looming. most countries have new coaches, and players have retired or moved overseas. we are world champions and NZ are not. we know this. no need to keep harping on about it.
dont know why the kiwis decided to have a commision of inquiry into the loss, like they think the cup is their divine right. did france have a commision of inquiry? and yet they were hosts. they are rubbing salt into their own wounds. very weird. get over it already.
23 Apr 2008, 00:52 am
and those who point out the mauger ommision (pun intended) are spot on in my opinion. i am sure henry had him in mind for the final against SA though.
23 Apr 2008, 00:57 am
#67 munkiboi:
Hey Munki
Yeah about the inquiry,we do it every time there is a RWC where we lose so we have done it a few times now,honestly who cares.Comes down to the day where we didnt play good enough to win,it really is that simple.A couple of other factors but hey thats rugby.We dont need to know 6 odd month down the track after the Tournament on what happened,useless information now.
23 Apr 2008, 00:58 am
#68 munkiboi:
For sure,i believe Mauger was going to play his part in the next 2 games.Looks like we might have been looking ahead instead of the game now.
23 Apr 2008, 01:36 am
Stodders
The crux of the matter rests in your final sentence – it was a knock-out situation, there is no second chance, you don’t gamble (unless you are arrogant and believe you just have to play your game to win), you take WHATEVER points are on offer to get you over the line.
The ABs didn’t, and they were on the next flight home.
23 Apr 2008, 05:06 am
Let you guys into a little secret, Mauger had behaviour problems with GH thats why he wasn’t in team
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