‘We want to finish on a good note’ – Sam Cane

David Skippers
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Sam Cane (left) and Jordie Barrett of New Zealand during a Captain's Run before playing Australia in Auckland, New Zealand, Friday, August 16, 2019. (AAP Image/David Rowland)

Finishing the season on a good note in Friday’s bronze medal Rugby World Cup game against Wales in Tokyo is All Blacks flanker Sam Cane’s goal.

Cane said the All Blacks were a day ahead of Wales in picking themselves up after the semi-final disappointment and with the swings of the emotional rollercoaster getting less and less extreme as they came down from the weekend, thinking was turning towards Friday’s game.

“Everyone wants to finish the season on a good note and there’s still plenty to play for and plenty of reasons to want to perform well, plenty of motivation and I’m looking forward to the game to be honest,” said Cane.

He spent Sunday with family not even discussing the game and later in the evening there had been a good team meeting where they aired a few things.

Monday had been about moving forward and learning and trying to be better.

Cane said sport was brilliant for teaching resilience and that was what they had to show now, resilience.

“Things don’t always go the way you want them to and sport teaches you that, and that is the way life is too…nothing good is gained from sulking or not moving,” he said.

At the same time there was the realisation it would be the end of an era with the departure of coach Steve Hansen.

“He won’t want to talk about it being his last game, he’ll be pretty driven on us finishing on a good note,” he said.

But Cane said he owed a lot Hansen, he first selected him and he had been his only All Blacks coach.

“He’s a pretty special coach, he’s got a real good feel for the group, so he’s a little bit more than a coach, he allows the other coaches to execute their roles,” he said.

“He’s a very intuitive coach who’s not always on the money but generally he’s not far off it and I consider myself pretty lucky to have been coached by him for eight years now.”

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New Zealand