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All Blacks wipe slate clean for Ireland after "special celebrations" at Twickenham
Stephen Foote • November 5th, 2024 9:58 am
Kiwis across the country were fist pumping over their Weet Bix on Sunday morning after the All Blacks' gritty win over the English at Twickenham.
Backstage after the match, the jubilation from the players and staff in the changing room spoke volumes about just how much the victory meant, with a few fellow NZ sporting luminaries joined in the festivities as the squad soaked up arguably the most rewarding result yet of Scott Robertson's young regime.
"There were some really special celebrations at Twickenham in the sheds and we really, really enjoyed it, because it's not an easy place to win," assistant coach Jason Ryan told SENZ's Scotty & Izzy.
"You've got to enjoy the moment. We were in no hurry to get back to the hotel. It was awesome, actually.
"We were just sitting in there, big Pasilio Tosi got on the guitar and we had the Team New Zealand boys in there and Scott Dixon, which is awesome."
"We were just sitting in there, big Pasilio Tosi got on the guitar and we had the Team New Zealand boys in there and Scott Dixon, which is awesome."
With their achievement well and truly savoured, the challenge now for Ryan and his colleagues is to ensure the players are able to wipe the slate clean and prepare for an even more demanding challenge against Ireland in Dublin this weekend.
That process begins up top, Ryan explains, using their mental skills coach to ensure they strike the ideal balance between starting afresh and being empowered by their performance in London.
"You've got to embrace that back-to-zero mindset, which we do really well with Ceri Evans around the mental skill side about how you actually reset yourself, but still have a bit of confidence out of what was a pretty special win in England," he said.
"It's about how we build on that but still have the boys on the edge of their seat at the end of the week.
"There's always someone unhappy because it's the All Blacks and everyone wants to be in the 23, but that's not reality. So we're going to make sure that we get them in the right space and the boys that aren't named set the test team up to succeed."
They'll come up against an Irish side seeking a degree of revenge for last year's World Cup quarter-final loss, playing their first match since edging the Springboks in Durban during the July Test window.Adjusting from the forward-based approach of the English, Ryan says they're expecting a more varied threat from Andy Farrell's side - but one they're now battle-hardened to cope with.
"Their short passing game is probably a little bit different. They've got a lot of variation around (halfback) Jamison Gibson-Park, which we had a look at. I think they've got good threats across the park that can get on the ball and slow momentum down in the first couple of phases at the breakdown and a pretty well-drilled forward pack.
"They're a cohesive team. They have been together for a long time. They know their identity and what they want to achieve to play extremely fast at the breakdown.
"I think us coming out of a big, intensive Test match like it was at Twickenham was good for us."
Listen the to the full interview below:
