‘Nothing personal’: Sam Cane would welcome chance to play Springboks again

When Sam Cane walked into the press conference room after last year’s 12-11 loss to the Springboks at Stade de France, it was impossible not to feel sympathy for the All Blacks captain. Cane had become the first man to be sent off in a Rugby World Cup Final.

With a sold-out crowd at the world-famous sporting venue watching on, Cane was initially shown a yellow card under review by referee Wayne Barnes. But the TMO soon determined that the skipper’s high shot in the 29^th minute met the threshold for a red card offence.

The All Blacks fought valiantly with the sport’s ultimate prize on the line and they even had chances to take the lead late in the decider. Jordie Barrett had the last real opportunity with a penalty goal late in the piece but the attempt flew wide.

In a moment that has been immortalised in Rugby World Cup history, the Springboks burst into a euphoric state of celebration when referee Barnes flew his whistle for full-time. The rugby-mad nation of South Africa also made sure to enjoy the history-making moment.

“It’s something unfortunately I’m going to have to live with forever,” Cane later told reporters at the press conference on that October night. It was hard to process the weight, gravity and truth of those words about 45 minutes after the full-time whistle.

Cane has since announced his Test rugby retirement. The 32-year-old will step away from the international game at the end of the year, with a truly legendary All Blacks career now in the midst of a swansong season.

However, before Cane wears the black jersey for the final time, the backrower may have an opportunity to take on the Springboks at least one more time over the next fortnight. But the flanker insists there’s “nothing personal” about these upcoming fixtures.

“To be honest, not really,” Cane told RugbyPass in Johannesburg.

“It’s always a team that I’ve loved playing. I enjoy the physical side of the game and they sort of always pride themselves on being physical and that’s how their forwards play the game.

“If I get the chance, I’m just looking forward to getting back into it but nothing personal, it’s just a great rivalry and the boys enjoy playing.”

The All Blacks are set for an almighty challenge over the next couple of weeks against the Boks in Johannesburg and Cape Town. With Scott Robetson leading the way as the team’s new head coach, they’ll be hungry to make a statement against the world champs.

‘Razor’ Robertson’s time in charge started with two wins over England in New Zealand, but it’s fair to say they weren’t convincing wins. The men in black followed that with an utterly dominant win over Mick Byrne’s Flying Fijians in San Diego, USA.

But after falling 38-30 to Argentina in Wellington, the New Zealanders appeared desperate for a bounce-back performance. They did just that, beating Los Pumas in style with a masterful performance a week later at the team’s fortress, Eden Park.

There have been shades of promise and potential in this group, but now is the time for the All Blacks to make their mark. Robertson won’t reveal the team until Thursday evening (NZT) but it’ll be interesting to see how and if Cane is used in the matchday 23.

“Just really looking forward to the opportunity of playing them at home at Ellis Park. I suppose, for us Eden Park is our spiritual ground… but for me, it feels like it’s their home ground. They’ve got a lot of history there,” Cane explained.

“It’s hostile. It’s one of the best challenges, the best places to play and I’m just really looking forward to it. I know they’ll be up for it, they’ve been playing some great rugby.

“History is never an indicator of what’s going to happen next. Although that’s a good start to look back on, (we’ve) got to get it right again this week.

“For me personally, I just love the challenge. It almost feels like the whole crowd is against you; your experience of driving in, you’ve got busloads of South Africa supporters and a majority of them let you know that they don’t want you to win.

“You feel that and I just like the feeling of backs against the wall. It’s a hard place to play – the altitude, the crowd, and just that feeling of you’ve got to come out swinging and give it everything.

“The hardest, most challenging Tests are the most rewarding ones and this is one of those.”

While there’s still plenty of speculation and discussions to be had about how the All Blacks could potentially shape up for this weekend’s heavyweight bout, the Springboks have – as they always do – already played their hand by naming their team on Tuesday.

Head coach Rassie Erasmus spoke with the media at a press conference at the team’s hotel on Tuesday. With a laptop to his left, Erasmus spent a bit of time at the start of the conference initially going through South Africa’s lengthy list of injured players.

But the Boks’ biggest issue – in both size and reputation –  is the omission of Eben Etzebeth from the matchday 23. Etzebeth was initially overlooked after suffering a knee injury but Erasmus has kept the door open for the two-time Rugby World Cup winner to return.

However, at this stage, Etzebeth won’t be playing.

“Yeah, he was huge for them last year – he’s been huge for them for at least 10 years,” Cane said when asked about Etzebeth.

“But at the same time… they’ve got a lot of depth in their squad. They’ve built depth over a long period of time and they’ve got an experienced forward pack.”