Defence at heart of Black success
29 Nov 2008
Richie McCaw lauded the All Blacks for winning the Grand Slam without conceding a try stressing that defence is the key to Test rugby success.
The stats make for bleak reading if you’re a northern nations supporter. Not only were England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales paddled by the All Blacks but between them they could not muster one five-pointer. In 320 minutes of rugby, not one player beat the All Blacks defence to score.
England will lament their own errors in Saturday’s 32-6 defeat, but McCaw commended his charges for their bruising defence. It was a prominent feature on South Africa’s three-Test tour and similarly so during New Zealand’s Grand Slam campaign.
“We put in some big defence in the second half and sometimes it can be the difference,” said McCaw. “It indicates the attitude of this team, and defence often wins you games. It’s one of the most important things in Test rugby.”
The All Blacks were not at their best but still managed to score three tries. Two were from turnover ball which is another compliment to the pressure exerted by the defence.
“We played the way we wanted to in the last 20 minutes,” said McCaw.
James Haskell was one of four English players yellow-carded in Saturday’s Test at Twickenham. The flanker lamented the number of penalties conceded by England.
“We can’t afford to be penalised like that. At this level, you have to play to the referee’s interpretations and we didn’t do that, which is disappointing.”
80 Comments
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30 Nov 2008, 15:22 pm
#49 Twig: That ref was a seeyounexttuesday!
30 Nov 2008, 16:00 pm
#51 goyougoodthingPlumtree: Could you imagine the outcry if he’d been blowing the other way? Wayne Barnes could’ve breathed a sigh of relief if that’d been the case!
30 Nov 2008, 16:29 pm
#52 Twig: Would have been muerte daith…
So over the Abs
30 Nov 2008, 16:59 pm
#46 church – like chch but pronounceable:
You don’t like that album or is it that you don’t like the Blues?
30 Nov 2008, 18:02 pm
I was very much pleased with Toby Flood’s performance. He played with real heart
30 Nov 2008, 19:20 pm
Its pathetic, Jake white and John Smit would say this and everyone would call them idiots.
Strange one eh.?
30 Nov 2008, 19:32 pm
#23 Big Hit: You have won 1 WC we have won 1 WC, but we consistantly beat you on a regular basis, the AB’;s won, and won fairly Rolland has got to be one the best refs around at the moment, he saw the pom’s for what they were, cheaters, and thugs, couldn’t help themselves, and good on BT for not punching the pom’s.
Oh RM are the best or what, DC also the best, and Ma’a getting better every game!!!!!
30 Nov 2008, 19:36 pm
#19 whatever: Best ref on the Planet sunshine, blew it like he saw it, its allback and white eh??
30 Nov 2008, 19:59 pm
#50 Twig: Are you part of the stupid tree ??
30 Nov 2008, 20:09 pm
#59 CHAZ: Correction, chap, England have one 1 world cup, and New Zealand have won one world invitational, to which they chose not to invite the team that would’ve paddled them 7 ways from sunday.
Rolland called it as he saw it, but don’t you find it curious that the only other people who saw it that way are Kiwis? The rest of the objective rugby-watching world saw the most dismally appalling refereeing display in memory.
30 Nov 2008, 20:12 pm
#59 CHAZ: …and for the record, Ma’a Nonu is useless. Add fat to the list, too.
30 Nov 2008, 20:15 pm
#59 CHAZ: “Are you part of the stupid tree ??”
Firstly, I’m not entirely sure what that even means. You’ll find Google to be quite helpful if you’re trying to come up with witty insults. Secondly, constructive, intelligent, insightful rugby opinions are generally the order of the day here. If all you have to offer is “Rolland is great, Dan Carter is my hero, Richie McCaw can climb into my bed anytime, I’d love to spoon-feed Ma’a my homemade love-juice, etc” then perhaps it’d be better to keep it to yourself.
30 Nov 2008, 20:16 pm
…and while I’m on a roll, learn the intricacies of spelling and grammar, moron.
30 Nov 2008, 20:20 pm
#61 Twig: Was able to out run all the pasty poms on the field eh ? And how many tries have the poms scored in the last 3 games, you sad little boy?
30 Nov 2008, 20:21 pm
#63 Twig: Grow a leg tosspot
30 Nov 2008, 20:22 pm
#62 Twig: Yeah something you have obviously fallen out of and hit evey branch on the way down and ended up with a TWIG dah!!!
30 Nov 2008, 20:26 pm
#65 CHAZ: Win a World Cup, son, and then we’ll talk again.
30 Nov 2008, 20:36 pm
#67 Twig: Five years, four coaches, 18 defeats from 22 matches, we will talk when you start to get close to where we are, and how many World Cups have you won? No room in our cupboard for it at the moment its rather full!!
30 Nov 2008, 20:50 pm
2 World Cups…that’s 2 PROPER World Cups. You can have all the Bledisloes you want. Billy Ellis is proudly South African at the moment, chap.
30 Nov 2008, 20:52 pm
One more lined up too, and in your back yard to boot. Hopefully Alain Rolland can get your boys through the group stages so that the Boks can hand you your asses on a silver-ferned platter.
30 Nov 2008, 21:14 pm
#70 Twig: And do you really think you will have a decent team to go to take to WC in 2011 knowing your countries history, without any politcal interference eh??
30 Nov 2008, 22:01 pm
Yeah, if only our team, stricken with political interference as it is, had won in 1995 and 2007, then maybe I’d have a leg to stand on, eh?
30 Nov 2008, 22:14 pm
Hier kom die bokke! The boks will only get stronger. Seriously think we going to catch up with the blacks for the number one spot
30 Nov 2008, 22:53 pm
#49 Twig:
you must be kidding.
England to beat NZ next week if it was a RWC game.
England have never beaten NZ in a RWC match and they have had better teams than this one.
#50 Twig:
Sheridans a myth.If you ever watch rugby and followed his games in NZ he has done nothing,not against NZ.
#60 Twig:
Twig,not cool belittling the RWC,makes you look a fool.Well thats what i get when i mention the easy ride in 2007 for the boks,become champs by beating Samoa,england usa and fiji hahahahaha.Hurricanes could do that.Damn look at me what a fool i am.
#67 Twig:
Done that.And what we have also done just this year was #1 team in the world,Tri nations champs,hilliary plate,Bledisloe cup as will as a thumping of 19-0 against the boks at their home.Good year,better than most,actually better than all.
#73 Wezwp:
Well lets hope so.Boks are and always be a good team.Always capable of being #1 team in the world,consistency a problem and thats it.
30 Nov 2008, 22:54 pm
#69 Twig:
Oh and by the way,i dont know how many Bledisloe cups you can see but i only see one,lay of the booze i think.
1 Dec 2008, 00:35 am
#63 Twig: twit, go crawl back in your cave… next you’ll be telling us the whole world thought Barnes had a good game, that all the SA whingeing about refs, the travel difference, playing 3 games in a row (trying to remember the litany of excuses for the SA World Champs dismal showing in the 3Nations)…are founded, its just us kiwis who shouldnt complain about the ref…. you insular, inconsequential fool… still, live and as for 87, well if your country was civilised at that time, they would have been invited… dont belittle our victory because you guys were still incarcerating and stringing up those that look a little different…
1 Dec 2008, 00:38 am
#69 Twig: and whats the head to head count champ ?? 42-30 approx … hell, I’ll lose the World cup every four years so long as it takes your team another 10 years to win in our country, and heck, took you guys 87 years to win at one of our grounds, yet we continually beat you in your country…. seems I know who is having the last laugh…
1 Dec 2008, 04:14 am
Where does Twig come from? Pathetic! What I cannot believe is that the Poms continually get crowds of 80,000 to watch the **** rugby they play. (Mind you 80,000 is not all that much out of 10 million!)
1 Dec 2008, 07:39 am
Oh my the kwee’s at it again (please read to the end, NZ ADD muppets). C’mon guys you’ve got the best team in the world and play total rugby to win at all and every cost. That’s what the sport is and until SA and NH sides can match this (if they ever can) they are going to be playing 2nd fiddle. But grow up and accept that you more often than not the AB’s dominate every game they play and have the “rub of the green” “bounce of the ball” going your way from the refs. When it doesn’t, you have not planned for it, never encountered it and struggle. Try for humble in defeat, magnanamous in victory.
Now for more NZ accolades. My first passion is 2 wheels; mainly off road. The Roof of Africa, one of the hardest off road motorcycle races in the world (and this year one of the hardest courses – barring when it rained and snowed) finished Saturday. Chris Birch from NZ won by 48 minutes over the best SA and a few very good international riders. This is a 50-0 snotting, sort of. In a sport where there are no refs, yellow cards etc (tiny bouts of cheating accusations), minimal politics, just man and machine this is an exemplary achievement. RESPECT!
1 Dec 2008, 10:22 am
#79 husky:
?? way over my head.Sounds like a compliment at the same time a slap in the face
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