All Blacks captain Kieran Read during their press conference in Tokyo. Photo / Mark Mitchell
All Blacks captain Kieran Read during their press conference in Tokyo. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Hansen and Read front up to defeat despite emotions running high, says Tom Cary in Tokyo.
When Ireland exited the World Cup a week ago, under a cloud following their devastating quarter-final defeat by New Zealand, they copped a fair bit of flak for failing to front up after thegame. Senior players, it was noted, did not come to the mixed zone.
Joe Schmidt, the coach, did not host a press conference the next day. No one was put up for the media at all. When the squad arrived in Dublin three days later, Peter O'Mahony said he had "no comment" to make about the game as he had not yet seen it back, although he and Schmidt did take other questions.
You could not accuse New Zealand of failing to front up yesterday, despite what was, for them, a similarly devastating defeat; outplayed, outthought and outfought by a rampant England in Yokohama on Saturday.
Steve Hansen, New Zealand's head coach, and Ian Foster, his assistant, put themselves front and centre, before Kieran Read, Beauden Barrett and Sam Whitelock, arguably the three most senior players in the All Blacks squad, took questions from the world's media.
More than that, though, it was the way in which they spoke which was so impressive; honest, gracious, heartfelt. Read and Hansen, both of whom are going to be involved with the All Blacks for the final time in Friday's third-place play-off against Wales, were very emotional.
Hansen choked up, stopping to take a sip of water, as he recalled a phone call to his wife post-match, followed by a lengthy chat with his predecessor and mentor Sir Graham Henry.
"Ted [Henry] and I spoke about how well George Ford had played," Hansen said. "Ted had quite a few comments. I did a bit of listening, tried to do some learning. Then you just move on, don't you?"
Read was also emotional. New Zealand's captain, whose 34th birthday it was on Saturday, said he felt "empty", but that the defeat had been put into perspective when he returned to his hotel room to find birthday cards from his children awaiting him.
"It's way bigger than the individual," Read said of his emotions the morning after the night before.
"It's bigger than myself. The amount of positive messages that have come through, that helps. Also the fact it was my birthday. I get back to the hotel room and there are cards from my kids waiting for me. It changes things and puts things in perspective.
"My kids aren't going to love me less, or whatever. So it's a tough pill to swallow because of the effort you put in, and the guys beside me have put in. But your family and the ones close to you go through that ride as well. They hurt and struggle, too."
It was entirely in keeping with the classy way in which the All Blacks took defeat on Saturday. And the type of men that Hansen and Read are - All Blacks legends both. They were hurting, but they were proud to be hurting.
Asked whether too much pressure was perhaps placed on them by fans back home, too much emotion invested in them, Read said that was "part of the job" as an All Black.
"I feel if we didn't have it, it would feel a bit different," he said. "Next year I'm going to be one of those people - a fan - wanting the All Blacks to win.
"I think as a nation we are just passionate about little things we can do, because we are a little nation who punch above our weight. We understand that's part of our job as All Blacks, to achieve things for us. I'd hate to lose that expectation and all that comes with being an All Black."
After 12 years without tasting defeat at a World Cup, the All Blacks were finally vanquished. But they went out like champions. Wales had better watch out on Friday.
"We're All Blacks," Read said of how the All Blacks would approach the game. "It's a chance for us to pull on the jersey again. For some of us it might be our last chance. I want to go out there and play well."
