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Home / Sport / Rugby / Rugby World Cup

All Blacks into the Rugby World Cup final: In their words

NZ Herald
24 Oct, 2015 06:01 PM4 mins to read

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All Blacks celebrate at the final whistle after defeating South Africa at the Rugby World Cup. Photo / Brett Phibbs

All Blacks celebrate at the final whistle after defeating South Africa at the Rugby World Cup. Photo / Brett Phibbs

The All Blacks advanced to their fourth Rugby World Cup 2015 final after a tense victory over South Africa at Twickenham.

After the match a number of the players talked to the host broadcaster and New Zealand's Sky TV to share their thoughts on the match.

Richie McCaw - We found that little extra

#NZL captain Richie McCaw explains just how tough it was to beat #RSA in the #RWC2015 semi-final #RSAvNZLhttps://t.co/OvEJ9Nss8Q

— Rugby World Cup (@rugbyworldcup) October 24, 2015

"Our discipline kept the Boks in the game, we found that little extra when down to 14, we held our composure well and the points came.

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"That's what we came here to do. We did it the hard way today but we always knew it'd be the case against the Springboks."

"We didn't get any surprises today, we had to bring everything today to get the result. Great to be a part of and great to come out the right side of."

Kieran Read - Real true grit

"A few bumps and sore bodies. I'm certainly feeling it at the moment. A lot of relief. The reason we come to this tournament is to give ourselves a chance and next week is that opportunity so we're really proud of the group. The way we played tonight was real true grit. A lot of immense pride and relief in that changing room."

Ben Smith - It's pretty exciting

"There wasn't much in it and I was just hoping we'd pull through. It could have gone either way, so I'm glad it went our way."

"The team's going to be really excited this week and prepare really well to give our side the best chance next weekend. It's pretty exciting."

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Conrad Smith - We had to dig pretty deep

"Just a lot of satisfaction I think. A real grind and we talked about it during the week that it could come to that and it's particularly satisfying. Last week we won by plenty but sometimes these are even more satisfying. We had to dig pretty deep and come from behind and with our own challenges of having 14 men at one stage but just proud that we're here for another week."

On the Halftime message
"It was good. We talked about how we knew it wasn't going to be as free-flowing as last week so we were going to have to fight and that was all the message was. We just wanted to speed ourselves up and get off the ground a little bit quicker, into contact a little bit harder and just little things like that we just weren't far off and I think we started that second half really well."

Aaron Smith - It is pretty buzzy

On wet weather rugby
"Something we talked about all week. It came and it was just one of those things you've got to do. It's a winter sport obviously and I thought we handled it pretty well. I think the key for us was putting it behind the South Africans. It's one of those things, it's easy to play without the ball in the wet so just being able to execute real good kicks and then put the pressure on them."

Message in the last 5-10 minute
"Just keep going. We are right here so it's pretty easy to motivate people when it's down to those cutthroat moments and 15 guys look around and you can see they're up for it. It was just about keeping them on edge. I didn't have to say much, just 'keep focused and don't worry about the time. Just keep playing our game'. When they had the ball in the last minute you just had to bar up and I think that showed how much we wanted it.

Discover more

Rugby World Cup

All Blacks win tense semifinal

24 Oct 05:02 PM
Rugby World Cup

Nerves shredded as All Blacks triumph

24 Oct 05:06 PM
Rugby World Cup

Carter's drop goal makes the difference

24 Oct 05:10 PM
Rugby World Cup

All Blacks v South Africa: Five things we learned

24 Oct 05:35 PM

On playing in a World Cup final?
"Just hearing it is pretty buzzy. Just can't wait."

Sam Whitelock - A battle of wills

"There was massive collisions going in there from both sides. It was a definitely a battle of wills out there at times."

On 'the steal'
"We just thought we'd get up. Have a standing lift from behind, I felt like I almost went through the roof. The rest is a bit of a blur."

Next week
"The recovery comes in first but you've got to come down from this high and rebuild during the week."

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