Sam Cane insists another bench hasn’t been taken personally as the under-fire All Blacks captain aims to pull his side out of another big hole.
Looking down the barrel after their historic home defeat to Argentina in Christchurch last weekend, the Men in Black are desperate for an answer in their Rugby League second leg against the Pumas in Hamilton on Saturday night.
And while their skipper is feeling the heat from all corners – including former All Black Sir John Kirwan calling on him to sit out this game in order to give Dalton Papalii a run – he is not distressed that his services were not required in the closing stages crunch at Orangetheory Stadium, after coach Ian Foster pulled the No.7 out of the park in the 67th minute and replaced him with Akira Ioane.
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All Blacks captain Sam Cane once again watched the final stages of a Test match from the touchline.
“It wasn’t predetermined, or anything to do with me,” Cane confirmed after practice on Tuesday.
“But I support the coaches when they make the decision to replace someone, whether it’s me or someone else.
“They do it with the best interests of the team at heart, that’s how decisions are made in this team. I don’t take it personally, in any way.
Cane’s bench brought back memories of last month’s decisive loss to Ireland in Wellington, when Foster opted to inject Papalii’s fresh legs in the final quarter and the captain could only watch the carnage unfold beneath the warmth of his jacket.
However, Cane is not the only test captain who does not always last 80 minutes, and he has also been substituted in the All Blacks’ two wins this year, and twice (one win and one loss) in six games. in his first season as captain in 2020, so it’s not exactly a new concept.
Whether Foster has seen enough of his flanker and chief leader to guarantee him a starting spot will be known when the team is publicly announced on Thursday.
In the meantime, Cane begs his “hurt” side to show what he’s made of, after a “bit glum” day of travel and then an honest Monday morning review.
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Sam Cane gets to work at All Blacks training in Hamilton on Tuesday.
“The ups and downs of professional sports, it’s real,” he said of what it’s been like to ride that emotional rollercoaster of the past few weeks.
“I think it just tests your resilience and your character, really. You have to pick yourself up and focus on what’s important and start again. There is no point in sulking or dwelling on things. But when you put all your energy into things you can control, it helps. And you just have to face it and own it.
Possessing, in particular, a breakdown zone that is so much of Cane’s domain – and, he said, with good help from new attacking coach Joe Schmidt – as well as a penalty count that continues to increase. be a problem whenever the All Blacks come on the losing side.
“It’s definitely a stat that we’ve highlighted, when we lose the opposition give a lot of penalties, and that’s obviously because of our poor discipline,” Cane said.
“You look at the ones you can control…I think we had four offsides at the start of the first half. It’s reacting to their cleanups and extending the length of the ruck, which changes the offside line.
“But we are quite eager to get off the line, we have to have the mental patience or the discipline.
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Sam Cane knows his team needs to up their game in the discipline department in particular.
“You can get frustrated on the pitch for whatever reason, the pressure can force people to do things they don’t want to do, because they’re trying to play, because they care and they want a good outcome, and sometimes that can have a detrimental effect on what you’re trying to accomplish.
“Test rugby is just a big cauldron of pressure, and penalties are what release the pressure.”
Cane also dismissed any notion that the All Blacks would enter last weekend’s test flat, descending from the top of Ellis Park and after confirming Foster’s tenure until the World Cup.
“We had an exceptional week of training in Christchurch as we spent about five days at home, the boys arrived fresh,” he said. So there was no indication during the week.
“And I don’t think it’s a horrible performance, far from it. That’s why I don’t think we’re far off the mark. If we could have been a little more disciplined in the first half, we could have put them under a lot more pressure, and potentially the game would change from there.
“But we didn’t, and they’re a very good team, and I don’t think that can be underestimated in any of this.”
