All Blacks coach Steven Hansen doesn’t care who his team meets in the Rugby World Cup final next weekend, his only hope being that the other finalist is hurting. The Wallabies will compete against their old foes at Twickenham on Saturday, with the victor being recognised as the most successful nation in the competition’s history, having each triumphed on two previous occasions.
Advertisement
We’ve done this for weeks now, not entirely sure which Australian side will turn up, not entirely certain if their magical World Cup campaign will continue or abruptly end at any minute.
And while rugby may not be the main sport in Australia, but there’s still plenty of interest in the World Cup.
Australia have been warned that they risk a World Cup final nightmare if they serve up an ill-disciplined display similar to that which plagued their semifinal win over Argentina. At times, though, South Africa’s relentless physical play threatened to win the day as the All Blacks found themselves repeatedly penalised for indiscipline at the breakdown. I am humbled to have been chosen to referee the Rugby World Cup final.
Asked whether he planned the drop goal, Carter said he came up with the idea about 20 seconds beforehand.
“And we have given ourselves that chance by reaching the final, but it’s not done yet. The lessons we learned from Sydney and Eden Park we’ve already applied in our game and put them into practice”, said Foster. “When you see him out there now, playing freely, and running around with a smile on his face, it’s outstanding”.
Around half a dozen players will make their final All Black positions on the biggest stage of them all, but any talk of fairy tale finishes or going out with a bang is quickly silenced.
“They’ve got a few areas of strength that they’ll try and attack us; we’ve got a few areas of strength we want to attack them”, he said.
“When you’ve got a team like New Zealand with so many threats, who are so well-drilled and have such a great coach you have to be working hard all the time”.
Advertisement
The programme was recorded before the World Cup, but provides an insight into the controversy surrounding fellow referee Craig Joubert during the tournament. “I really like to have lots of different characters in teams, people who think differently about everything”.
