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The halftime speech that rallied the All Blacks in the Rugby World Cup final

Former All Blacks hooker Dane Coles (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

A new series has revealed the halftime speech that fired New Zealand up before returning to the field to lock horns with South Africa in the Rugby World Cup final.

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After 40 minutes in the final, the All Blacks were down six points and a captain; an unprecedented deficit on the sport’s grandest stage, and one that no team has ever overcome.

The red card to captian Sam Cane and the accuracy of Handre Pollard’s boot painted a grim picture for the Kiwis’ championship hopes.

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      For the coaching staff, the challenge was clear.

      “We just had to get on with it and not get too emotional or blurred or angry. We know what it means to drop a forward and go down, but it’s the mental stuff, that’s the challenge,” head coach Ian Foster said when reflecting on the final in NZR+’s latest season of In Their Own Words.

      Foster’s thoughts were shared by mental skills coach Gilbert Enoka, the longest serving member of the All Blacks staff.

      Enoka’s storied career with the All Blacks had seen him contribute to two World Cup winning campaigns, in 2011 and 2015, priming him for moments like these.

      “My role at halftime is usually more observational,” Enoka stated for the series. “What pricks my senses is when I hear silence and I feel what’s existing in the space.

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      “I quite often have thoughts which I don’t say, but in that moment I wanted to make sure that I didn’t look back in time and say ‘I thought it and wish I’d said it’.

      “At times, all you need is one person to say one thing that all of a sudden gives you the power to believe.”

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      Enoka had a simple message, one that invoked the pride in the All Blacks jersey and inspired the sense of hope that was so desperately needed in that moment.

      “Boys, no one expects us to get the job done here, but wow, it’d be a hell of a story if we won. You’d be part of All Black folklore.

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      “Go write the story.”

      Short and sweet, the speech hit home for the players, as an inspired second half saw the team keep the Springboks scoreless and draw the lead back to within one point, with multiple chances to take the lead.

      Jordie Barrett reflected on the speech, saying: “When Gilbert said ‘what a story this would be’, you almost wanted to stand up and run out that tunnel.”

      Richie Mo’unga added his thoughts in that moment: “We’ve been through it all, we’ve been through thick and thin, why can’t we be that team that can do it under these circumstances?”

      Dalton Papali’i added: “We’re the All Blacks, we’re not going away, we’re going to go until the end.”

      Points Flow Chart

      South Africa win +1
      Time in lead
      0
      Mins in lead
      79
      0%
      % Of Game In Lead
      99%
      66%
      Possession Last 10 min
      34%
      0
      Points Last 10 min
      0

      While the team did indeed fight until the very end, a one-point deficit survived the final 23 minutes and it was the Springboks who claimed their fourth Webb Ellis Cup that night in Paris.

      Having since retired from the All Blacks, Enoka walks away knowing he said his piece and inspired a performance that took the biggest game in the history of the sport right down to the wire.

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      Comments

      29 Comments
      E
      Egg 414 days ago

      Reminds me of that epic scene from that film. That halftime speech. Al Pacino’s character, describing the fight for the inches. Rousing stuff. Gooseflesh.


      Except that team actually fought back from behind and won.

      G
      GG 414 days ago

      If it wasn’t for the ref the Boks should have won the ‘87 World Cup. If my Aunty had balls she would have been my Uncle. 😉

      G
      GG 414 days ago

      Time to move on. Two great sides, great game and any side could have won. Period.

      G
      GH 415 days ago

      For goodness sake. I have never seen such cry babies in my life. Your captain couldn't tackle. Your fault. Fix it. Grow some balls. You will play with 14 again if you cannot tackle right. Stop feeling sorry for yourself…. I once had so much respect for the ABs. That seems like such a long time ago. Face it. You are bad bad loosers. My goodness. Just Grow up please!

      R
      Red and White Dynamight 413 days ago

      Bryce Lawrence.

      C
      Chris 415 days ago

      What a load of old cobblers… a big arse story heroically making out Enoka to be some sort of a Kiwi Mr Miyagi. Lol…

      We LOST…

      I sat next to Enoka years ago as a young adult. When the guy had hair and played a little Volleyball.. Seemed to me back then… like a bloke with a whopping great opinion of himself … and not a lot seems to have changed since back then… except a whole bunch of half wits glorifying the guy for being paid wads of cash for coming up with a few inspiring words in a game we ended up losing…. An indisciplined captain got a red card for a pretty silly tackle… and we were outplayed by 15 south Africans…. We can all sit about offering some fictitious script and pitch heroic twaddle… but the guys few words meant little… I don’t think professional All Black Sportsmen need a shrink to… “point them in the right direction at half time”… think most of those guys deep down realized that 14 guys would result in a loss… love the way they played… but we still lost… and the horror filled AB record of Foster ended… Thank the heavens… with the sane disturbing loss of previous results against the English… Irish…. Agies…… etc… stop waxing the lyrical about deep seated AB emotional bollocks… we got beaten… as Razor said after a previous Foster led thumping of the ABS… All Blacks are not supposed to lose…. I couldn’t help laughing reading this bollocks article

      J
      Jen 414 days ago

      It’s so cringey. And then all of us get tarred as fans who can’t handle losing. For the love of god, IT’S JUNE, please can we move on.

      E
      Egg 414 days ago

      The thing is though, that speech was good content. And now they’re like “where can we use it”, darn it. Cause it didn’t work.

      W
      Westy 414 days ago

      Well said Chris. A shrink certainly did not change the way the ABs played in the 2nd half.

      e
      etienne 415 days ago

      Finally someone said it. Good on you mate

      A
      Andrew 415 days ago

      Trying to dramatise and conjure up traumatic times. We've moved on, time to look forward. No one wants to wallow in the build up to the final, we all know what happened!

      S
      SF 415 days ago

      All Blacks got denied a legal try. Wonder why? Do you think it was incompetence for not knowing that you cannot go back more than 2 phases?

      W
      Westy 415 days ago

      This article is about 29 words spoken by a fringe member of the coaching staff who is not involved with the team anymore.

      It reads more like an advert for / endorsement of a service provider by a friendly party. Does the head coach agree with the credit being given to the “mental coach” for the improved 2nd half performance?


      Different tactics maybe?

      E
      Egg 414 days ago

      Maybe they lost because of his speech? Different perspective.

      N
      Nickers 415 days ago

      The change in tactics contributed more I think.

      W
      Wayneo 416 days ago

      Is this from that cheesy kiwi rip-off of the Chasing the Sun documentary?

      Y
      YeowNotEven 416 days ago

      There is a documentary called ‘time of our lives’ about NZ getting second in the cricket World Cup. Now that’s what I call embarrassing.

      J
      Jmann 416 days ago

      Let’s face it - even at 14 men the ABs should have won that game. Appalling officiating; they couldn’t even follow their own rules.

      B
      Bull Shark 415 days ago

      The ABs went behind on the scoreboard from minute 2 I recall.


      So with 15, 14, 14v14 - couldn’t overtake the Boks on the scoreboard. Even with almost all the possession in the last 10 and 14 v 14. Thats called beat.

      Y
      YeowNotEven 416 days ago

      Legends. Epic final by two teams who refused to give up, the better team won.

      I wish the game would be remembered for that. PSDT’s performance, Jordie Barret, Kolisi…. It was a game for the ages.

      Let’s not get too wound up by all the bitching and moaning in the comments sections and in the media.

      B
      BH 416 days ago

      Good points. Mo’unga, Kriel, and Ardie Savea deserve a mention too.

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      SK 31 minutes ago
      Harness Skelton's might and move Sua'ali'i: How the Wallabies can fix things for Test two

      That fighting Aussie spirit really served them well last week when they were down 24-5 early in the second, to rally back to 27-19 and dominate the last quarter was really impressive. I dont subscribe to the thought that the Lions took their foot off the gas. The Lions are not flawless. This group goes through periods in matches where they run riot and then through other periods where their game almost devolves as they try to play too much and lose all momentum falling flat. The strongest most consistent part of their game is their defence. I feel like the weakest part could be their set piece especially that creaky scrum which really should be doing better against Australia. If this Lions side was playing against the Springboks or All Blacks they would not be winning collisions and their set piece would be under serious scrutiny. Australia must try to do better in the collisions and put more pressure on the Lions set piece. They must bring line speed and power to their defence. They cannot afford to give up any soft tries and they must bring urgency at the start of the game. They need to force the Lions to play on their terms and to play from behind. If the Lions race out to an early lead all bets are off, if they keep momentum for a protracted period the game will be up. Australia must spoil, harass, frustrate and compete in every ruck, maul, scrum and lineout. Its time to face the Lions head on.

      34 Go to comments
      H
      Hellhound 53 minutes ago
      Steve Hansen: The Boks are 'rolling the dice and so far they’ve got away with it'

      As I said, always blame the ref. The Boks can't win unless the ref helped. It was a hooker and not a prop. You don't even have your facts straight. You just confirmed what I said idiot. Blame the ref for the try😂As for hate? I don't hate the AB's, just some of their fans like you. You don't look at the whole picture. All you see is AB's players. You don't look at the opposition. No, you see what you want to see and then open your mouth, spew drivel and then get heated up about it screaming hate. Yes, the Boks haven't won in NZ in awhile. Boo hoo, cry me a river. That will change. A very strong AB's side barely beat a weak C French team and you think they are in such a good place. I would not bleat such prowess if I were you. The Boks played against much weaker opposition and they were very disappointing. Lots to work on. However, we know what these Boks are capable of. We know what the youngsters are capable of. We know the depth we have and that depth is extreme. Lots of new youngsters bleeding through too. Better than most of the current AB's. Have you watched the URC? No. Japan league? No. English Premiership? No. You watch SR and you are awed by what you see. You think the world will fall at the AB's feet, that they will smash everyone in front of them(couldn't do it to a C French team). You are blind. Foolish. Big mouth and overhyping a team that is already out of time for the WC. At the most 17 Tests left to give players time to shine. Razor doesn't even have a full A team yet. Prospects yes. Possible future stars, yes. The Boks have about 3 teams, and about 3 teams with star studded youngsters that can shift up. What will the AB's do when there is injuries? Red card bans? AB's are good. They always will be. However, they are wafer thin in the talent department. As I said, I love the AB's, just not all its arrogant supporters of which you are one. You get good supporters, not you, and then bad woke idiots, that's you!

      31 Go to comments
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