New Zealand approach RWC semifinal fuelled by scars of 2019

PARIS, France — The shock was evident on the faces of the All Blacks at full time. In the 24 hours since their semi-final defeat to England in Yokohama at the 2019 Rugby World Cup, the disbelief has subsided and been replaced by pain and heartbreak.

This was not something the All Blacks were used to; Just a week after dismantling Ireland in the quarter-finals, England produced a historic performance to knock New Zealand out of the tournament many thought they would win.

About an hour after this defeat, the atmosphere around the All Blacks camp was tense and agitated. The great Kieran Read was playing in his last tournament for New Zealand, it was Steve Hansen’s last at the helm of the All Blacks. Read looked shocked, Ian Foster sat there with his head down while Hansen did his best to shoot.

But there was one question that bothered Hansen: had the All Blacks run out of hunger? Read gave his answer, then Hansen repeated it. He told his team to be hungrier at halftime, without saying they lacked hunger. He asked the reporter if he would like to meet him outside for some “rugby education”. and said it was a “pretty average question”. The message was clear: criticize us for losing, but don’t you dare question our hunger.

Four years later and as they prepare to face Argentina on Friday in Paris, those feelings of hurt and missed opportunity were brought up. As in 2019, New Zealand are preparing for a semi-final after a huge victory against Ireland. Just 12 players feature in Friday’s squad, among those the matchday squad named for England in 2019, when defeat was as much a front for personal ambition as collective pride.

Some teams – like England – have tried to move away from any narrative of revenge this week. Rassie Erasmus said England would have “beef” after losing the World Cup final to South Africa in 2019, but Steve Borthwick’s new team dodged any notion there would be a narrative of revenge under this match: new team, new opportunity.

But for the All Blacks, it’s not in their DNA. When they won the World Cup in 2011, they drew inspiration from their heartbreak in the 2007 quarter-finals. And this week, as they prepare to face the Pumas, they spoke of the desolation of there is four years old. Players come and go, values ​​and expectations remain the same.

“A lot of us have this injury and scars from 2019,” All Blacks captain Sam Cane said on Wednesday.

“We had this group discussion. There are two very different Mondays we can be in next week and one of them is horrible. It’s about having the ability to be mentally at the limit .We feel like we’re in a good place, but we’ve got to get back there.”

Looking back, All Blacks assistant coach Scott McLeod says the coaching group has learned from mistakes made four years ago.

“In 2019 we didn’t do that as well in our week leading up to England,” McLeod said. “It’s not necessarily the opposition, it’s the quality of what we put in during the week.

“Now there were a few bits and pieces from there; our captain Kieran Read couldn’t train, there were some disruptions. And we built the week with the quality and focus we did last week.”

Aaron Smith remembers the brutal meeting with the players in the days following that defeat against England. Tears were shed and there was a collective vow to never feel this way again as a group. He says feeling that pain again helped the group reset after their win over Ireland last weekend.

“I’m an emotional person and I use things to nourish me,” Smith said. “I remember being in the same position four years ago and we weren’t successful that night. The message this week was about building on those learnings.”

But they also made the collective decision to draw a line under what happened four years ago.

“We covered the 2019 talk in a short amount of time,” Foster said. “That doesn’t stick in our minds.”

Foster’s message to the players is simple: make sure there is a ‘tomorrow’ after they face the Pumas on Friday. As a group, they don’t want to play the bronze medal match again – as Dane Coles said earlier in the week, preparing to play that match is a “crap week.” It is therefore a question of living in the present, of compartmentalizing previous sorrows, but also of learning from the past.

“Most of the lessons we learned from 2019 have been heeded,” Foster said. “We make sure to go back and review what the keys were and we did that.

“Where I’m really proud of this group is that they love being here and where they are right now. The hardest thing to do in sports is to stay in the present, just to achieve this that’s happening in front of you. There’s so much talk about the past and the future and the hardest part is not getting distracted by these two conversations, but just being the best you can be in this moment.

“We are working hard towards this, as is the coaching group. I am incredibly proud of the way the players are handling this. They are not getting distracted by the confusion of lessons from the past.

“We want to show that we can take on the challenges that come before us one by one and continue to grow as a group.”