‘Gutted’ Sititi confident of All Blacks turnaround

Wallace Sititi says the All Blacks have no time to dwell on their back-to-back defeats to the Springboks as they prepare for the fourth and final Test in Baltimore on Saturday. livefromquarantine.club

The All Blacks arrived in the United States on the back of consecutive losses in Cape Town and Johannesburg, with their early-season momentum having been replaced by mounting pressure.

Their task has been made tougher by injuries to captain Ardie Savea and openside flanker Luke Jacobson, but Sititi insists the All Blacks must embrace the responsibility of filling the void.

“We have been around long enough to know that when it’s time to step up, it’s your time to step up,” Sititi said. “We will make sure we hold each other accountable.”

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Sititi impressed after replacing Savea in the third Test at FNB Stadium, making nine carries, two linebreaks and five tackles as the All Blacks lost 29-24.

But the performance did little to hide their shortcomings, particularly at scrum and lineout time, while the All Blacks conceded 12 penalties.

“We had a pretty stern review and now it’s about moving forward,” Sititi said. “We have got a big Test this weekend.”

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The 24-year-old said the All Blacks were particularly frustrated by the way they allowed the Springboks to apply pressure.

“Anywhere you give away penalties it’s always an issue. Not just the breakdown. Sort of anywhere,” he said. “I guess we are just giving them easy entry into our 22m and they are capitalising on it a bit better than we are.”

The Boks were awarded a penalty try from a dominant scrum and scored a try from a long-range lineout maul at FNB Stadium, exposing areas the All Blacks know must improve.

“It is never nice for any team when you concede tries like we did at the weekend and it’s something that we don’t take lightly,” Sititi said. “We are focusing on getting better there and making sure it doesn’t happen again.”

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Photo: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images

The post ‘Gutted’ Sititi confident of All Blacks turnaround appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.

Moving from Africa’s largest sports stadium, packed with Springbok fans, to a neutral venue for the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry decider will not affect South Africa’s players too much, said Rassie Erasmus.

The Springbok head coach announced his team Monday night after a flight on the same plane as the All Blacks that had “good vibes”, followed by a “lekker” reception from fans at Baltimore/Washington International Airport.

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Erasmus said both teams would give their all in the fourth and final Test in the series, played at M&T Bank Stadium on Saturday.

That, despite South Africa having a 2-1 lead and only playing to prevent a draw.

‘The people are not here’

This, after their 29-24 win at FNB Stadium in Soweto, where almost 86 000 fans turned up despite high ticket prices, a warning of severe weather, and it being the third Springbok Test played in Johannesburg, and fourth in Gauteng, this year.

Erasmus described their season’s last match on South African soil as “emotional”.

“It would have been terrible to lose there after what the people put up for us,” he said.

Still, the Bok coach referred to their 2021 home series against the British & Irish Lions, played in empty stadiums due to Covid-19 protocols.

“The big thing is, although the people are not here – and New Zealand are in the same boat, their people are also not here – we’ve had this experience many times.

“We saw last weekend how South Africa supported us. After we lost the first game, some people turned against us. But the majority stayed positive and supportive. We remember those things, and we will play for them.

“People might get tired of us saying this but you never stop playing [hard]. We’ve played a British & Irish Lions series in front of no crowds in South Africa, when we were 1-0 down.

“We played the Rugby Championship in Australia when there were almost no South Africans there because you couldn’t get out of the country. We try to remind ourselves of that a lot.”

Springboks, All Blacks don’t mingle on flight

Erasmus said the Springboks and All Blacks generally didn’t mingle too much on their shared flight, which left at 2am on Sunday, flew nine hours to Spain, spent two hours refuelling, and then flew another 10 hours to Baltimore.

The New Zealanders had their spot and we had our spot. I saw Beauden Barrett and Siya [Kolisi] having a cooldrink together and taking photos. Codie Taylor was sitting just across me.”

He said the Boks normally share a flight with Argentina in the Rugby Championship. But this was a first with the All Blacks.

“The players and coaches don’t dislike each other. We’re just really competitive. So it was all good vibes.”

The Bok coach said it was “baie lekker” to be welcomed by South Africans the airport, and interact with them on their way to the hotel. It was good to hear Afrikaans and stories of the expats now in the States.

De retour au premier plan avec Le Havre AC, Ahmed Touba espère forcément que ses bonnes prestations en Ligue 1 pourront lui rouvrir les portes de la sélection nationale. Le défenseur de 28 ans n’a en tout cas rien perdu de son attachement aux Verts, comme il l’a clairement expliqué dans une interview accordée aux médias officiels de son nouveau club.

The post Verts : « Je suis Algérien », Touba affiche clairement son attachement au pays appeared first on Football Algérien - DZFOOT.COM.

MADRID, Spain, Sept 9 – Kylian Mbappe moved joint-fifth in the list of all-time Champions League and European Cup goalscorers as Real Madrid overcame Inter Milan.

The France captain, 27, opened the scoring for Jose Mourinho’s side with a clinical 14th-minute finish from just inside the box – his 71st goal in 99 appearances in the competition.

Only Karim Benzema (90), Robert Lewandowski (109), Lionel Messi (129) and Cristiano Ronaldo (140) have scored more.

Three-time Real Madrid Champions League winner Raul scored 71 times in 142 appearances.

It was Real’s first attempt on target and their next one brought a second goal in the 23rd minute after a horrible mistake by Inter’s Spanish goalkeeper Josep Martinez.

Martinez lost possession after a back pass by Benjamin Pavard, with captain Federico Valverde dispossessing the keeper before tapping over the line.

Martinez made amends at the end of the first half with a double save to keep out Mbappe and Jude Bellingham before the post came to Inter’s rescue.

Italian champions Inter had started well with Thibaut Courtois, making his 100th Champions League appearance, keeping out attempts by Hakan Calhanoglu and Lautaro Martinez.

Inter also hit the top of the bar through former Liverpool midfielder Curtis Jones, while they sent on John Stones – a Champions League winner with Manchester City in 2023.

In a game full of chances, Bellingham missed a golden opportunity to make it 3-0 for the record 15-time European champions before Carlos Augusto swept home in the 77th-minute to set up a grandstand finish between Mourinho’s current and former clubs.

Despite the win, Real’s fans were unhappy with their team’s performance and made their feelings known during the game.