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Soaked in sweat and with disappointment etched on his face, All Blacks captain Ardie Savea pointed the finger at his team’s poor discipline and high error-rate for his team’s 27-13 capitulation to France in their World Cup match in Paris on Saturday morning.
The All Blacks fell to pieces in the second half at Stade de France, losing the penalty count 12-4, while their decision-making and ability to control possession was also a major factor in the defeat as Les Bleus surged down the home straight to be convincing winners.
No 8 Savea, who replaced Sam Cane as captain, the latter was ruled out after suffering a back injury at the captain’s run the day before the game was honest: The All Blacks just weren’t good enough.
“It was a battle, it was going back and forth, back and forth,” Savea told Sky Sport. “And I think just in that last 20 [minutes] our discipline let us down and we weren’t clinical enough in our own half and they punished us.
“We gave a few penalties away and they punished us.”
Mike Hewitt/Getty Images
All Blacks captain Ardie Savea and Richie Mo’unga try to catch Frenchman Peato Mauvaka during the World Cup opener in Paris. France won 27-13.
The All Blacks, having trailed 9-8 at halftime, took the lead when left wing Mark Telea scored his second try early in the second spell.
But that simply galvanised the French into lifting a gear as the men in black failed to respond, and were unable to add any more points.
The injury to Cane meant the back row had to be reconfigured with Dalton Papali’i switching from the blindside role to No 7, and Tupou Vaa’i slotted into the No 6 jersey. Lock Brodie Retallick, originally not picked because of a knee injury, was added to the bench.
“We always have to stay ready, and those were just one of the scenarios that happened,” Savea said in reference to the injury to Cane.
“We have just got to adapt and adjust. It’s tough when you lose your skip. But, you know, I thought the boys they came in … it’s just unfortunate they didn’t get the win tonight.”
All Blacks coach Ian Foster described the Cane injury as “not ideal”, but said he would rather it happened earlier in the tournament than later in the event.
“Sam was lifting a lifter for a kick-off receive yesterday afternoon and felt his back sort of tweak. So kept him until this morning, but we made that decision. But he should be okay going forward,’’ Foster told Sky Sport.
The immediate problems for Foster to address are the alarming issues that plagued his team in the second half – poor discipline was a factor, especially with right wing Will Jordan being yellow carded for colliding with French fullback Thomas Ramos as he took a high ball – and the kicking was also sloppy.
“We looked dangerous when we had the ball, but we just let ourselves down around being patient and clinical with our skill-set,” Savea said.
We lost the battle tonight, but we have still got a war to win.”
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