All Blacks identify the key to winning the Rugby World Cup

All Blacks skipper Sam Cane believes that a strong defence will power his team to another Rugby World Cup.

All Blacks identify their key

Three of the four RWC semi-finalists are past tournament winners, and Cane feels that they will need a colossal effort defensively to lift the trophy for a fourth time.

“History shows that teams that win World Cups are very good defensively,” Cane said.

“It is our benchmark going forward.”

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All Blacks talisman Ardie Savea echoed that sentiment.

“It could have gone the other way but for us to go D [defence] for the last five minutes was pretty special,” Savea said.

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The All Blacks were incredibly sharp in defence, and head coach Ian Foster would credit his assistants Joe Schmidt and Scott Mcleod for building the system.

“We were disciplined, we held our cool.

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“With Scott McLeod and Joe Schmidt helping him, we have been building our system and how we want to defend.

“We are making some strides in that space and I was delighted,” Foster said.

“One mistake and the game could have gone the other way. But you haven’t been to a World Cup if you haven’t had a game like that.

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“That is what World Cups are about – you’ve got to roll your sleeves up and trust what you do.”

Credit where credit is due

McLeod said that the system was all about picking your moment, and the All Blacks in the park executed that with aplomb, particularly with the chop tackle Jackal combination, which undid isolated Irish players on numerous occasions.

The All Blacks were also unlucky not to receive several sealing-off penalties, with the rule seemingly neglected by officials at this tournament.

“The ball wasn’t there to take a number of times and we had to wait for the moment and then execute really well,” McLeod said.