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The Harsh New Zealand Media Reaction To Their World Cup Final Loss

The Harsh New Zealand Media Reaction To Their World Cup Final Loss

By Colman Stanley Oct 29, 2023 5:03 PM

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After an opening game loss to France, this New Zealand side, that some have dubbed 'the worst ever', defied expectations with a one point loss to South Africa in the Rugby World Cup final.

Unsurprisingly, however, some sections of the famously harsh New Zealand media used the loss as an opportunity to live up to this reputation.

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Writing for the New Zealand Herald, Elijah Fa'afiu handed out a couple of very low scores in his player ratings, with the red carded Sam Cane and Will Jordan getting a 3 and a 4, respectively.

"The first-half red card that turned the game on its head and made the task of a fourth World Cup win much harder for the All Blacks," he said of Cane.

Have to feel for him after a superb tournament, but the punishment for direct contact to the head was warranted by the letter of the law

Will Jordan - 4 - He’s been magical all tournament, but his wizardry ran out in the decider. Couldn’t get going as the staunch Springboks defence held the dashing winger to just 13 running metres in the contest.

READ HERE: New Zealand Legend Unleashes Rant At Wayne Barnes As Kiwis Rage At World Cup Final Refs

13 October 2023; Will Jordan during a New Zealand captain's run at INSEP in Paris, France. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

Writing for the same publication, Chris Rattue called out Ian Foster's 'poor' record as All Blacks head coach, once again highlighting the absurdly high standards in the country.

We are a nation of bad losers.

New Zealand Rugby got it wrong. Foster’s record is terrible by All Blacks standards.

There’s a lot of history rewriting going on involving the embellishment of Foster’s record.

Yet his improved image as a coach has been helped by soft games in this World Cup tournament.

In significant results at this tournament, his team beat Ireland and lost to France and South Africa. What is so great about that?

These All Blacks have reached no memorable heights during his reign, created no successful new way of playing, and have sunk to unprecedented lows.

One of New Zealand rugby's foremost writers, Gregor Paul, lamented the cards that were shown and went on to have such massive influence on the match, but acknowledged that Wayne Barnes' decision to show red to Sam Cane was the correct one.

"It was a sad moment for the game and the World Cup because no one, presumably, wanted a red card to be the differentiator in the final.

"The officials had no choice though: it met the threshold for red as Cane was upright, it was direct contact to the head and while every Kiwi on the planet was searching for a mitigating factor, there really wasn’t one."

Where is the consistency here? If they send off Sam Cane for contact to the head, then you certainly do the same for the much worse contact to the head tackle by Siya Kolisi. Fair is Fair! World cup won by ref Barnes and TMO! 55 minutes 14vs15 because of these terrible decisions. pic.twitter.com/Uww85STkzH

— Celtic Soul 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇳🇿🇮🇪🇬🇧 (@Braveheart_NZ) October 29, 2023

Paul Lewis' reaction veered towards saltiness, claiming that South Africa are the best at 'not playing rugby', but it is essentially just a more baiting way of saying that South Africa excel at the core elements of the game.

South Africa won it fair and square.

Secondly: South Africa are better at not playing rugby than the All Blacks are at playing rugby. Thirdly: the sport of rugby must lift itself out of this miserable morass of complicated rules which lead to a band of officials becoming the key influence, not the players or the actual play.

More Level Headed Takes From New Zealand Media

The match was also noteworthy for being Ian Foster's last as head coach, before Scott Robertson takes the helm, while the second row legend Sam Whitelock will also be bowing out.

"It’s not just the end of an era for Foster, who came within a whisker of guiding the All Blacks to a record fourth World Cup crown," said Robert van Royen for Stuff.

"An almost full clean out looms. Yes, forwards coach Jason Ryan will remain under incoming coach Scott Robertson, as will strength and conditioning coach Nic Gill, but the majority of Foster’s support staff will follow him out the door.

"Then there’s the exit of a host of players, most notably the most capped player in All Blacks history, Whitelock (153 tests)."

READ HERE: New Zealand Fans Won't Like Brian O'Driscoll's Opinion On Officiating In Rugby World Cup Final

The less reactionary Jamie Wall had more level headed takes on the game, and outlined some of its comparisons with the 1995 final classic between the two sides.

"Absolutely they were the toughest attempts the two men could make - Mo'unga's conversion from hard on the touchline and Barrett's penalty about 50 metres on an angle - but that's where crunch games are won and lost. Just ask the Springboks because that's how they even made the final in the first place.

"It was a brave effort by the All Blacks, that can't be denied. It will go into the history books as a modern day sequel to the epic 1995 final.

"The final score was only separated by one point - but that's the difference between ultimate glory and coming home with nothing."