Hansen hails mental strength of All Blacks
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The performance may not have pleased All Blacks coach Steve Hansen but his team’s character left him a happy man after they left it late to down a gallant Ireland in Christchurch on Saturday night.
A Daniel Carter drop goal with seconds left handed the All Blacks a 22-19 triumph that they barely deserved at a bitterly cold Addington stadium.
After a comprehensive 32-point win a week earlier, they produced a bumbling display which saw them escape with their unbeaten record against Ireland only just intact.
“We certainly didn’t play as well as we would have liked but we showed some really special character to hang in to win the game,” he said.
Hansen said the team’s big players stepped up in the closing stages to pull the game out of the fire.
“We had a plan everyone did their job under extreme pressure.
“It’s a game were probably shouldn’t have won. Plenty of young men and some older men have been reminded about what Test rugby is about,” he said.
Tries to halfbacks Conor Murray and Aaron Smith and a conversion and four penalties apiece to Jonathan Sexton and Carter esnured the match came down the the wire.
The All Blacks found a determined Irish defence difficult to break down as the tourists made 138 tackles, missing just seven in the match and earning Hansen’s admiration.
“They played with a lot of conviction, a lot of energy, a lot of urgency.”
Ireland fed off the home side’s frustration which led to the All Blacks being hit with 11 penalties which Hansen attributed to how they had prepared for the match.
“You just don’t give away stupid penalties like we did tonight if you’re in the right zone.”
Hansen reserved special mention for Chiefs flanker Sam Cane who made several strong runs after coming on for an injured Kieran Read at halftime.
The 20-year-old says he feared his Test debut would not end on a winning note until Carter’s late heroics.
“I was on the bottom of a ruck and looked up and saw that fly over – it was a bit of relief, I was stoked.”
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June 17th 2012 @ 4:27pm
Sprigs said | June 17th 2012 @ 4:27pm | Report comment
Hubris.
June 17th 2012 @ 9:20pm
Sylvester said | June 17th 2012 @ 9:20pm | Report comment
For me, the breakdown problems from the two tests are the result of losing three power forwards from last season’s team. When Thorn, Kaino and Mealamu were hitting rucks, it was pretty difficult for the opposition to get near our ball.
June 17th 2012 @ 9:51pm
ohtani's jacket said | June 17th 2012 @ 9:51pm | Report comment
Probably. The McLaughlin/O’Brien/Heaslip backrow is outplaying us and when you add the work Best is doing and Healy at loosehead they’re giving us a run for our money. We’re clearly lacking a blindside right now, but our tight forwards didn’t really get stuck in last night and we looked slow and unorganised at the breakdown. It kind of reminded me of the Crusaders prior to routing the NZ sides. You’ve got to give a huge amount of credit to the Irish defensive patterns, though. The only flaw in the Irish was their poor work at the restarts. If not for that they might have won.
June 18th 2012 @ 5:51am
mania said | June 18th 2012 @ 5:51am | Report comment
retallick hore and richie were brutal in hitting the rucks and cleared out the most. oFranks was busy and whitelock had his usual high workload. thomson for me plays too loose but did a lot. had we had thorn kaino and mealamu i still think ireland would’ve dominated. ireland were just irrestible.
AB’s went too wide too early. wasnt till end of the 1st half that richie decided to pick n go and then rest of forwards started doing it and AB’s got a semblance of control. 2nd half AB’s went back to spinning it wide. work up the middle had to be done first but AB’s just kept moving it one out and further.
June 18th 2012 @ 9:58am
allblackfan said | June 18th 2012 @ 9:58am | Report comment
I’ll say one thing: the concept of a three-test tour is back with a vengeance!!
Hopefully, we will see the return of proper tours now.
Got to say, Guildford’s a worry. As I said elsewhere, he seems to be playing his way out of an AB jersey. Far too erratic (but he is so fast!) Let’s see what Hosea Gear can do this weekend, I say!
Seems to me the Irish took a leaf out of the French book; keep the ball in hand and back yourself to run the ball back, not kick it!
Hats off to the Irish!!
This weekend should be a cracker!!
June 18th 2012 @ 10:08am
mania said | June 18th 2012 @ 10:08am | Report comment
ABF – if anything gear should come on for savea. savea was below average in the 1st half and completely absent in the 2nd.
in contrast guilford was busy and injecting himself as often as possible. wasnt a fan of his holding the irish winger back back, for that he should be dropped, but in contrast he still played better and did more than savea.
June 18th 2012 @ 3:41pm
jameswm said | June 18th 2012 @ 3:41pm | Report comment
I only watched bits of this test – but one thing that struck me was that the ref was excellent. Who was it? Welshman Owens?
June 18th 2012 @ 7:01pm
Pot Hale said | June 18th 2012 @ 7:01pm | Report comment
No it was Craig Joubert. Could you not tell from his accent?