HEARTBROKEN ALL BLACKS captain Sam Cane said he will have to live with his red card in the World Cup final defeat to the Springboks forever.
Cane was sent off for a high tackle in the first half and though the 14-man Kiwis fought their way back into contention, they came up short on a 12-11 scoreline in the decider in Paris.
Referee Wayne Barnes showed Cane a yellow card for his high tackle on South Africa centre Jesse Kriel and referred the incident for an off-field review, which confirmed that Cane’s offence warranted a red card.
“At the time I wasn’t even aware, it caught me off guard that he stepped back,” said a clearly distraught Cane after his side’s defeat.
“But we have been here for two months now and anything around the head has ramifications.
“I’m not here to discuss whether it was the right or wrong decision. It can’t be changed. Unfortunately, it’s something I am going to have to live with forever.”
Cane struggled to find the words to describe his emotions.
“Just so much hurt right now,” said Cane. “It’s actually hard to find words to explain it. It’s so, so hard. I’m feeling so much hurt, but I am so proud of the group the way they fought back and gave ourselves a shot of winning that game.
“It speaks volumes for the group as a whole. It is a fantastic group of men who care so much for playing for the All Blacks and making New Zealand proud. So there is a lot of heartbreak in the sheds right now. It is hard.”
All Blacks head coach Ian Foster was similarly disconsolate.
“Heck of a final,” said Foster. “Always high emotion, both sides of the fence this will be no different. 12-11, want to congratulate South Africa for the tenacity they have shown. For us it’s heart-breaking and I look at the effort of our team.
“We gave ourselves a really good chance in that second-half especially after the damage that red card created.
“It would be wrong to say we had all the chances, they had chances too. There was a pressure cooker environment. To get ourselves back, score that try, it’s disallowed and we get another try. We gave ourselves every chance, but it wasn’t to be.
“We are all gutted. We so desperately wanted to win this but I am equally proud. The attitude to play there against a mighty team. We contributed massively to a final which had a lot of drama.”