Foster added that they will just focus on the game itself.
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“I only knew him previously as an opponent as opposed to someone I’m playing with or training with”, he said. Cheika has his players on deck to share one common goal, and that’s noticeable in their dedication and determination to work for one another, and their belief in the team’s structures and policies. If he wants to come to the final I’m sure we could organise a few tickets. Can they frustrate and spoil his ability to get to another breakdown seconds later?
Mealamu hailed the impact of Wayne Smith on the team since he re-joined the All Blacks as defence coach this year having left the New Zealand set-up after the 2011 triumph.
Who do you think will win the tournament?
However, in Australia’s David Pocock, a new global chief pilferer of possession has been born in recent years.
“I’m a big fan of wildlife programs, particularly those by David Attenborough”.
Pocock, who has shifted from openside flanker to No. 8 to accommodate both he and Hooper in the back-row, was reluctant to discuss his head-to-head battle with champion All Blacks flanker Richie McCaw.
In a career that has spanned so much time, so much of the globe and so much of it played at the highest level, it would be impossible not to be able to point to isolated incidents.
He has had such a sensational World Cup so far, despite missing the quarter-final with injury (was it any coincidence that Australia struggled to beat Scotland without him?), that he could well be the player of the tournament.
“We are excited by the opportunity and it will be down to how individuals prepare and perform on the day”.
“The way he’s playing now is testament to how hard he’s worked to get back”, Mealamu said.
Kieran Read is a vital leader in the All Blacks hierarchy, alongside McCaw, and he will be doing everything in his power to send his captain and the other senior players out as winners.
“So it’s always a challenge and I’m really looking forward to it”. “It’s so important and we have to be on top of our game in that area because we know their back three will be”. No one sheds more blood for the Wallabies.
Pocock, though, did play in the Wallabies’ Rugby Championship-deciding win over the All Blacks in August in Sydney.
And although he is as desperate to bring the Webb Ellis Cup back to Australia for the first time in 16 years as any other member of the squad, Pocock is adamant his achievements on the rugby field won’t define him.
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“It’s amusing, I was talking to my partner Emma a couple of days ago and she was saying for me as a kid watching the World Cup was such a big thing and those are the guys you idolise”, Pocock said.
