New Zealand’s record-breaking and title-sealing rout of Argentina has been tarnished by a local fan flashing a laser in the face of All Blacks goalkicker Aaron Cruden.
Cruden had the laser light shone near his eyes as he lined up a last-minute sideline conversion for a 54-15 victory in La Plata.
While the All Blacks raved about their time in Argentina after clinching the Rugby Championship trophy and coach Steve Hansen praised the local support, Cruden felt the incident tarnished an otherwise memorable week.
He noticed the laser as he was preparing his kick but wasn’t deterred, perfectly slotting the goal from touch.
“It shot through my mind that maybe they were trying to put me off but I just tried to focus on the ball and strike it and luckily it went through,” said Cruden, who replaced five-eighth Dan Carter midway through the second half.
“I’ve never had that before but I’ve seen it (before in a Test match) on telly.
“It’s a bit of a shame when things like that happen but you’ve got to be the bigger man and put things like that behind you.”
The seven-tries-to-two thumping was the All Blacks’ biggest win in the expanded and rebranded Southern Hemisphere tournament.
It eclipsed their Tri-Nations record of 52-16 against South Africa in 2003, a week before they smashed the Wallabies 50-21 in Sydney.
Often the Pumas contributed to their own woes by pushing passes after making inroads out wide but they were to be commended for playing positive attacking rugby.
“I’ve really enjoyed the inclusion of this team in the Rugby Championship; its added an extra dimension to the tournament and we’re looking forward to them playing a big part in the years to come,” Hansen said.
rae1
Guest
Agree TROLL ALERT!!
Jerry
Guest
Who is this Mr Noone, and why do you hate him so much that you think he deserves to be booed and constantly shamed?
Riccardo
Guest
If that's what you think he said you really are a rookie...
mania
Guest
but loads of fun
SkinnyKid
Guest
exactly - pathetic journalism.
Kane
Guest
Anyone remember Mathieu Bastareaud? He was the subject of a media storm when he falsified an account of an assault while in New Zealand with the French side. He later retracted the claims and admitted he had been drunk and had sustained the injuries in his hotel room. He then added that he had panicked and concocted the story to avoid getting in trouble with team management. I'm wondering if the beer throwing incident was another story he concocted?
SkinnyKid
Guest
is this really a story? Jim Morton, you just lost one more decent bloke/journalist point. Lads, you're sawing sawdust over a non-issue. Boo hoo...a laser. But reality is, the press (jim morton) are over stating this.
peterlala
Guest
kovana, zero points for that comment.
ceboss
Guest
Im sick of ppl making out Qc was.the only one booed in the worlscup, the entire wallaby squad was booed and disreapected despite the respect ghe AB recieve in aus. No matter who the player, noone deserves to be shamed in front of the world like QC did. Even though the guy is a tool noone deserved to be constantly shamed like that, n i believe he is still scarred n kiwis should be hopeful the aussie fans dont stoop to that level. I have spoken to many euro fans at the Wc and they admitted it was over board and childish.
all7days
Roar Guru
I'm sure he couldn't hold a candle to a keyboard warrior :)
Cruise
Guest
In NZ this is no big deal, only on this forum, so stop making out as if it's a big deal to us.
Cruise
Guest
Seriously, this comment hasn't been removed. Cruden has siad it was no big deal.
ceboss
Guest
The league kiwi fans done the same to the kangaroos. Alot of kiwi fans are sooks when there team loses, whenever the Allblackd lose all the finger pointing begins, geez even graham henry is still sooking about 2007 wc loss. These kind of fans ruin it for the civilised kiwi fan that has respect.
all7days
Roar Guru
You can try if you like...
all7days
Roar Guru
So you're saying that because of what happened in the past it means it is acceptable to act this way... I would think you would rebuke both acts. Or maybe you can explain how long until interfering with the on field players is unacceptable... by your logic the beer bottles is fine because of the south African that ran on the field to attack the ref years before. Let's be sensible and condemn everything like this. Not keep some kind of silly score
seiran
Guest
How do they know it was a 'local' fan? It could have been anyone visiting the country.
tomobillsly
Roar Rookie
it's just one fan being silly. don't vilify puma fans because of one idiot, nz fans are amongst the most ruthless towards visiting sides. good stuff from aaron, setting up a try within minutes of coming on and nailing his shots at goal.
Warriors_Paradise32
Roar Rookie
Wow Cruden gets lasered and he has a sook. To be honest hes to small to be playing rugby. No offense intended but he needs to smashed really bad.
jeremy
Guest
I think it was Carter, in the crowd, showing him where to kick.
jeremy
Guest
Jiggles! It's PAGE IMPRESSIONS, thank you. Hits is so web 1.0... (don't ask about unique users)