Ahead of the All Blacks’ opening Rugby World Cup match against France on September 9 (NZT), we take a look at what premium subscribers thought of the record-loss against South Africa at Twickenham over the weekend.
Behind the scenes of the ‘rattled’ All Blacks
Liam Napier wrote:
Can the All Blacks regain the confidence and momentum they built earlier this year – or has it been squandered by a series of disruptions? That pressing doubt hangs over their World Cup campaign.
The mood surrounding the All Blacks has altered drastically in the last month. Just ask the many Kiwis, some of whom hid their jerseys, as they slunk away from Twickenham in bewilderment with the 35-7 blowout they witnessed.
From on the rise to new lows in the form of their worst defeat in history, the All Blacks continue to test the faith.
Losing to France in the opening game, then backing up with three massive wins against the pool minnows before meekly crashing out in the quarters would be a fitting end to the erratic Foster era. I am at peace with it and grateful that it will all happen while I’m asleep. - Paul A
Pretty hard to recover from that hiding. Sam Cane was exposed, both as a No 7 and as a captain. Mr Average isn’t good enough to win the World Cup. We can beat anybody on our day but the All Blacks have lost the aura they used to have. Perhaps if they played like they perform the haka, we might be okay. - Ian U
Definitely a good old-fashioned thrashing. However I’d much rather an All Blacks side with the underdogs tag rather than thinking they can walk on water as in previous campaigns. A big setback with Tyrel Lomax’s injury but hopefully he, together with Brodie Retallick, will be back in the fold sooner rather than later. A wonderful individual try by Cam Roigard was lost in the browbeating. - Ralph H
On Friday, from the stands, I saw a seemingly endless string of penalties and without the commentary, we had no idea if they were warranted. I didn’t see a big physical difference. I saw 13 or 14 men defending against 15 and easy yards via penalties for the Boks. You can’t chase the game when you’ve got 14 on the field. I watched Australia push around the French and fail to convert their opportunities. They’ve got game. Once everyone feels the pressure of exiting, let’s see. There are some surprises ahead for sure. - Peter B
Do we actually love rugby or, if we’re honest... do we really just love watching the All Blacks win? - Marvel U
All Blacks count the injury cost of Twickenham horror show
Liam Napier wrote:
As they count the cost from their Twickenham horror show, the All Blacks have lost a third starter for their World Cup opener. They are, however, clinging to hope that Scott Barrett won’t become the fourth player consigned to the sidelines.
Starting tighthead prop Tyrel Lomax joined fellow influential forwards Brodie Retallick and Shannon Frizell in the mounting casualty ward for the All Blacks’ first World Cup test against France in Paris on September 9 after suffering a nasty gash to his thigh that required 30 stitches overnight.
Lomax suffered the deep laceration from the blades of Springboks fullback Damian Willemse’s Adidas boot in an accidental incident early in the first half of the All Blacks’ heaviest defeat in history.
Blame where blame lies. This test loss was the fault of the players. They were all - one by one and as a team - well below average. A team doesn’t have a 10+ winning streak and then suddenly it’s a “coaching” issue. Quite simply the players weren’t up for this game. Hope the embarrassment of this humiliation spurs a change in attitude and performance. - Murray B
This was a massive mistake by New Zealand Rugby to play this match. Injuries, cards, and a thrashing are the outcome. I hope the dollars were worth the embarrassment. This is a team that is disjointed and poorly selected... anyone who thinks they can go on and win the world cup are dreaming. - Peter W
The British Journal of Sports Medicine has been on about the use of blades as supposed to studs for some time. As usual sports administrators are lagging in making the necessary rule adjustments. They remain legal, and quite possibly lethal. Imagine a severed artery? - Patrick F
Put a fullback at fullback, wingers on the wing and select midfield backs to play in the midfield and we might get something that gels. Foster has always had the bad habit of trying to make superstars by playing players out of their natural positions. - David S
35-7... refs don’t come into it with that kind of scoreline. Not sure the All Blacks have ever been beaten in a fair game. There’s always an external factor that is to blame. It couldn’t possibly be that a better team outplayed them, could it? And the comments that Willemse’s boots need to be banned. It was an unfortunate accident in a tough game. Not intentional. - Victoria G
All Blacks defeat at Twickenham a story of injuries, cards, deflation
Liam Napier wrote:
Injuries, cards and a deflating defeat equates to carnage at a heaving Twickenham for the All Blacks.
The All Blacks wanted a full-blown test in their final outing before the World Cup. They got that and much, much more.
Two weeks out from the global showpiece the All Blacks suffered a humbling loss to the world champion Springboks. While the result carries minimal World Cup implications, it is another healthy dose of force-fed adversity for Ian Foster’s men.
Gee that was a tough watch. Aside from the ABs being bad, really not a great advertisement for the game of rugby. Cards and penalties are completely out of control. Rugby won no new fans today and probably lost a few. - Deborah H
There is the reason why the Warriors are the hottest ticket in New Zealand this year. Rugby has lost its way with pedantic rules and over-officiating refs. No flow and just a terrible watch. I feel sorry for the fans who went along. Up the Wahs. - Peter W
In response to Peter W: I wondered how long it would take for somebody to blame the ref. With the amount of cynical infringements from the ABs early on, I thought they got off incredibly lightly to be honest. - Luke P
Disappointing result for the ABs for sure but good to get that loss out of the way now. Beauden Barrett is a liability in defence at fullback, his random chips over the top straight to opposition players make no sense and he seems to be way past his best. Will Jordan has to take that spot. A tough loss to take but congrats to the Boks, they were just outstanding. - Ross B
At the game and it was a hard watch. Boks better in pretty much every aspect of the game. ABs looked like they had been out on the beer. Just had nothing to offer in response and ruck discipline really poor. Next game France! They will do us like a dinner if we repeat that performance. - Ian M
