New Zealand head coach Steve Hansen has vigorously defended All Blacks captain Richie McCaw after video footage emerged of him apparently striking South Africa flanker Francois Louw during Saturday’s World Cup semi-final at Twickenham.
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It is unclear from footage whether McCaw made contact with his elbow or hip, but World Rugby last night decided it was latter as they confirmed he would not be cited for the incident.
It was welcome news for the All Blacks as it means the 147 times-capped McCaw is free to play in next weekend’s World Cup final.
Hansen, speaking at a press conference on Sunday, before World Rugby’s announcement, said: “There is nothing in it, so there’s nothing to talk about. Everyone has got a bit excited, and we move on.
“He (McCaw) is a man that draws a lot of attention because he’s been a great player, maybe the greatest player in the history of the game.
“If he is not in your team, he’s a pain in the rear end, so it goes that if you can’t get him on the track let’s get him off the track. It’s a mark of respect, really. He takes it in his stride, and the team takes it in their stride.”
Bath forward Louw briefly went off nine minutes after the first half McCaw incident – which happened at a ruck – for treatment to a cut caused during a lineout.
“He had two knocks to his head, and we put some sutures in the one from an elbow during the lineout, but that won’t keep him out of the match on Friday,” Springboks team doctor Craig Roberts said, ahead of the Springboks’ World Cup bronze medal match in five days’ time.
New Zealand will become the first team in rugby union history to make a successful world title defence if they win next weekend’s final against bitter rivals Australia, but South Africa pushed them all the way before going down 20-18 on Saturday.
If McCaw’s denied final by elbow there’s something very wrong. Would be just a guesswork on intent – not good enough with so much at stake
— Dan Roan (@danroan) October 24, 2015
“When you have performances like we did in Cardiff (62-13 quarter-final win against France) it’s very difficult mentally to get back into that same spot,” Hansen added.
“It was a really tight, tough game (against South Africa) where we probably didn’t play as well as we could have. I think some of our game needs to be looked at. We will go into the final really hungry for a performance.
“We won’t be overrating ourselves, which will be good. I think we will lift, there will be enough excitement. The final will be energising in its own right.”
And reflecting on the semi-final clash, All Blacks centre Sonny Bill Williams added: “It could have gone either way. We could have been sitting on the ground there knowing that four years of hard work was over.
“At half-time, we talked about fixing up a few technical things, but just trying to stay in that moment because it was do-or-die footie.”
And Williams’ fellow centre Conrad Smith said: “There was not too much panic at half-time when we were down to 14 men (after a yellow card for Jerome Kaino).
“There was still a lot of belief in us. We just needed to show that bit more urgency, and I think we did that.”
