Uruguay made a statement in their opening match of the Rugby World Cup, pushing the tournament hosts right into the last quarter until France pulled away with two late tries.
It was a performance that made the All Blacks, Los Teros’ next opponent, wary.
Since that match, Uruguay have split their Pool A contests, having fallen after leading Italy at halftime before out-lasting Namibia.
The France Test though is what has put the All Blacks on edge.
“We are playing against a team that basically had the same scoreline against France as what we did,” All Blacks head coach Ian Foster told media ahead of the final round of pool play. “And that’s in the last month.
“I am not trying to talk them up falsely but they lost to France by the same scoreline we did. That deserves a lot of respect and if you watch that game, these guys, I love their attitude. I think they’re a really passionate rugby team and if we’re not in the house, then we are going to struggle. That’s a fact we’ve got to deal with.
“For us, we are at our best when we are on edge. Sometimes our opponent puts us on edge, sometimes the situation puts you on edge but at all times your own internal standards have to be the edge that really matters the most.”
Scrum coach Greg Feek echoed those sentiments on the eve of the match.
“As a team, we were sitting watching that game. Obviously, we were curious to see how they went,” he said. “That was part of what got us excited and made us go, ‘we can’t get complacent in this tournament against anyone we play’.
“We talked about it the other day, how many turnovers they get at breakdowns, how physical they are and even some of their backs, quite electric too. So, we’ve done our homework. We have to.”
New Zealand’s loss to France was the first pool-stage loss the country has suffered at a World Cup and reports suggest it added a combative edge to team training.
Pushes and shoves were reported at a feisty training camp in Bordeaux during the team’s bye week. The 96-17 win over Italy that followed would imply the intensity of training had served the team well.
Feek said the vibe in training had evened out into a clinical focus.
“So, at training at the end we do some skill blocks and the boys do some work-ons… and even in those, there’s the focus, the intensity in some of those drills. It shows they are really trying to get that little bit extra to prove themselves, you know.
“The good thing about that is you’ve got that competitiveness, but you’ve also got the guys that are competing for spots helping each other. When you see the boys working together like that, wanting each other to get better, it proves, I suppose, where we sit with everything. That gets me excited, the boys get excited and we know that whoever gets the jersey is going to do the business.”
Having ruthlessly put to rest any thoughts of an upset against Italy, the New Zealand side says building on that momentum is their key ambition.
“From last week, the standard that we set around a number of areas, getting some continuity with that, first and foremost. That in itself will give the boys confidence, will cement a few things, so we will get some more rhythm going.”
