All Blacks captain Sam Cane has moved to add his side of the story to the pitch invader incident in Argentina and turned his attention to the headline confrontation with the Springboks after being cleared of any sanctions.
Cane issued a public apology following the All Blacks’ 41-12 victory over the Pumas in Mendoza after footage of him kicking out at a pitch invader emerged on social media.
As the All Blacks touched down in Auckland on Monday night, Cane further addressed the incident. After reviewing the footage Rugby Championship governing body Sanzaar is understood to have cleared Cane of any sanction, leaving him free to lead the All Blacks against the Springboks in the box office pre-World Cup test at Mt Smart Stadium on Saturday night.
“I can see what the video looks like but I’d like a little bit of context and the truth, I suppose,” Cane said. “I saw a pitch invader running in our direction with a security guard some distance behind. In that split-second I made the decision to assist the security guard in stopping him so that way he could take him off the field.”
Cane never felt threatened as one of multiple pitch invaders made his way past the All Blacks team huddle but his reaction to the incident immediately shifted when the fan hit the deck.
“In the end all of the pitch invaders at the weekend were harmless but you can never be sure, especially being in a foreign country in a new city.
“The risk I realised after was when he fell to the ground and I realised he wasn’t an adult; he was a teenager. I thought ‘oh man’. We’re not used to teenagers coming onto the field.
“In that split second I had no way of knowing what age he was. The fact he was a teenager... when it happened I felt bad straight away because of his age.
“What people wouldn’t realise is there’s a big moat around the field over there. Between the final whistle and our team huddle there had already been about five pitch invaders on the field. Security was doing the best they could but it was a bit chaotic out there.”
Asked directly why he opted to kick out, Cane said: “It was more just about stopping him. I could see how far behind the security guard was. I know how it looked but that certainly wasn’t the intention.”
Post-match, after returning to the team hotel, Cane attempted to locate the local.
“Through the power of social media and some locals we managed to track him down.”
They spoke via Zoom, and signed All Blacks merchandise was left to collect from the team hotel.
“I explained to him I thought he was an adult. I said sorry for what happened. He was good, it was all through translation. We chatted a little bit about his rugby. He’s a halfback. I said he might be a decent running halfback because he managed to evade security. It was him and there were five or six of his mates in the background. They were all joining in and filming.
“Despite what happened it ended on a really positive note.”
With no further action forthcoming, Cane is ready to move on.
“The fact there were so many pitch invaders in a short space of time, plus they’ve had to go to the effort of climbing down a barrier and onto the field, maybe that’s something to look into.”
Thirteen Springboks starters travelled to Auckland, where they have since enjoyed touring Waiheke Island and golfing in recent days, while the remainder of their squad humbled the Wallabies 43-12 in Pretoria on Sunday morning.
Rested and ready to rumble, the world champion Springboks pose a major threat.
“I’m looking forward to this weekend. We watched most of that South Africa and Australia game prior to ours and then knowing the large majority of their top side are here in New Zealand...
“We were pretty proud of the performance we put in but our mindset quickly shifted to recovering the best we could, travelling well. We’ll have a short and different week’s preparation but we’re excited for the match.
“We put some good things out there against the Pumas. We’ll have a review to have a look more in-depth from the coaches’ point of view but all the boys had their iPads out in transit so we’ve done a lot of that work already.”