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| All Blacks coach hails skipper August 17, 2008
New Zealand rugby coach Graham Henry praised the efforts of his captain Richie McCaw, after his team's 19-0 win over South Africa this morning.
The victory keeps alive New Zealand's hopes in the Tri-Nations competition, while South Africa will need a minor miracle if they are to win the title for the third time. South Africa still have two matches to play, both against Australia, while New Zealand and Australia clash in the last match in Brisbane next month. It was a quite remarkable turn-around after the Boks beat New Zealand 30-28 the last time the teams met, in Dunedin on July 12. South Africa were kept scoreless on Saturday, while the All Blacks ran in three tries by Conrad Smith, Dan Carter and Keven Mealamu. "I thought Richie played outstandingly," said Henry about his skipper, who only returned to rugby a few weeks ago after sitting out the Dunedin game with an injury. "But the whole loose-trio were excellent. I thought Jerome Kaino had his best game yet, while Rodney (So'oialo) is always superb." The All Blacks dominated the breakdowns and starved the Boks of possession, frustrating them into giving away a number of penalties. Their defence was also outstanding. We showed some real skill out there in defence, the guys' positional play was excellent," said Henry. "They showed guts against a very physical team," McCaw said his team's tackling effort, especially in the first 20 minutes when South Africa asked a lot with ball in hand, set the tone for their performance. "We gang-tackled them and knocked them back," said McCaw. "I thought it was a courageous effort." The Boks had few excuses for their performance, saying they would step up this week before tackling Australia in Durban next weekend. "It's no use crying over spilt milk," said coach Peter de Villiers. "We're professionals and will pick ourselves up. I think we were good in the scrums this time around, but we have to realize this team is in a transition stage. "For the game I want them to play, it's going to take some time for them to gel and click. "We want to play a quick game with quick ball and the guys have to stop being afraid to do that. It's going to be tough along the way, but the more confident the guys get the better they'll be." Bok captain Victor Matfield blamed the defeat on his team's inability to convert a few good try-scoring chances in the first half. "We created a lot of opportunities and didn't take them and that's disappointing," he said. "We played better than the score suggests. We also took a few wrong decisions and the wrong times and that's the difference between winning and losing." AFP
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