All Blacks captain Sam Cane was visibly hurting after the Rugby World Cup final. New Zealand were bested 12-11 by South Africa and Stade de France, and a key moment involving Cane was a talking point.
For the first time ever in men’s Rugby World Cup final history, a player was sent from the field – and it was captain Cane. The skipper was initially sent to the sin bin following a high shot on Springboks centre Jesse Kriel midway through the first half.
But the incident went under review. An anxious five minutes followed before referee Wayne Barnes officially confirmed that the incident had been upgraded to a red card offence.
Off camera, Cane dropped his head into his hands as referee Barnes showed the skipper red.
The All Blacks had to play 55 minutes with 14 players, and that doesn’t include flanker Shannon Frizell’s time in the sin bin earlier in the Test. It left the All Blacks in a mighty tough spot.
New Zealand had a few opportunities to snatch World Cup glory from the jaws of defeat at the death, but it wasn’t to be in the end. The All Blacks lost a thriller, and unfortunately for Cane, his red card is just something “I am going to have to live with.”
“Look, at the time I wasn’t even aware, it caught me off guard that he stepped back. But we have been here for two months now and anything around the head has ramifications,” Cane told reporters after the final.
“I’m not here to discuss whether it was the right or wrong decision. It can’t be changed. Unfortunately, it is something I am going to have to live with forever.”
Midfielder Jordie Barrett found himself on the side of the scrum in Cane’s absence as the All Blacks rallied back from the game-changing setback.
The All Blacks played with a one-man disadvantage for long periods of this Test, but it didn’t seem like it at times. If anything, New Zealand looked more threatening during the second term.
But the Springboks, just as they have throughout the entirety of the knockout stage, hung on when it counted. Test matches are won by fine margins, after all.
Coach Ian Foster praised captain Cane for his leadership after the final, and refused to pin the blame on the skipper’s send-off.
“I think we’ve all seen the way Sam has contributed to the game, our team behind the scenes, he’s been fantastic, worthy of being captain of the All Blacks, which is a fantastic honour and a privilege and I think he’s carried that magnificently well and I am incredibly proud of him. I am incredibly proud to coach him,” Foster added.
“It’s a tough old day at the office when that happens and he’ll be feeling a lot of emotion I guess.
“There’s a few issues there, one is you look at the decision and say well, it is what it is, we can’t control that unfortunately. I didn’t feel we got the rub of the green in that first half, so we had to try and make our own luck but that was one that went against us.
“But the second thing is the heart and soul that the team showed afterwards to stay in that fight and I think that’s largely due to the spirit of the group and the spirit of the leaders and even though Sam wasn’t on, he was a big part of that.”
