Despite dominating most of the possession and territory in a tight, physical game, the All Blacks were forced to endure a nervous last quarter at Twickenham after five penalties from Springbok fly-half Handre Pollard and another kick from his replacement, Patrick Lambie, kept them under pressure until the final whistle. (Some teams believe if) you can’t get him on the track, then let’s get him off the track, sort of. “Central contracting would help with control over players, but essentially, we need to beat New Zealand teams week in and week out at Super Rugby level to build confidence”. “He takes it in his stride, and the team takes it in their stride”.
Advertisement
Australia can’t afford to rely on their sensational scrambling defence to bail them out against a rampant All Blacks line-up in Saturday’s Rugby World Cup final, they’ve been warned.
Speaking at a press conference in Weybridge earlier on Sunday, Hansen said: “There is nothing in it, so there’s nothing to talk about”.
Video images emerged after the game showing New Zealand captain Richie McCaw’s elbow apparently striking Louw as he chased a player with the ball.
Louw said after the match that he needed 16 stitches to his forehard, but when asked how the cuts came about, the flanker told the media: “I’m not sure, I think it was at the bottom of a ruck”. They were inflicted in a lineout.
“He had two knocks to his head, and we put a few sutures in the one from an elbow during the lineout, but that won’t keep him out of the match on Friday”, Springboks team doctor Craig Roberts said, ahead of the Springboks facing a World Cup bronze medal match against Argentina in five days’ time.
The win under driving rain at Twickenham also took New Zealand a step closer to their ambition of becoming the first country to win three World Cup titles and the first to claim two in a row. “There are no words, our discipline was not good enough in the second half”.
McCaw is likely to play his last Test of a his celebrated Test career against the Wallabies after they overcame Argentina 29-15 in the second semi-final.
New Zealand Herald columnist Wynne Gray also declared McCaw’s contact with Louw “innocuous” and “accidental”. “I’ve got 16 here and four there”, he said pointing to a gash down the left hand side of his forehead and then to his right temple.
Louw, who wants his global future to continue beyond this World Cup, insists the seemingly unstoppable All Blacks should not take victory in the final for granted.
Advertisement
“There were a couple of key moments in the second half that I think we won”. Fourie du Preez had been excellent in that first half, but box kicks don’t get you out of the red zone – as we at Worcester found out against Sale on Friday night.
