
All Blacks v Georgia - Image slideshow
A selection of the best images taken by Herald photographer Brett Phibbs from the All Blacks Rugby World Cup win over Georgia.
A selection of the best images taken by Herald photographer Brett Phibbs from the All Blacks Rugby World Cup win over Georgia.
'We don't need to panic' is the suggested headline from All Blacks coach Steve Hansen, speaking to media after the scratchy win against Georgia, Hansen has revealed the AB's are holding back tactics till the knock out stages of the Rugby World Cup.
The All Blacks were eager to show that they have a fifth gear after settling around the third and fourth in their first two victories and in Naholo they have a player with more gears than most. If he is the All Blacks' secret weapon after sitting out the first two matches due to his recovery from a leg fracture, he revealed all after only 1 minute and 13 seconds here with the fastest try of the tournament so far.
Don't panic is the message from the All Blacks as they qualified for the quarter-finals, captain Richie McCaw says 'errors are easy to fix' and coach Steve Hansen says they struggled with the 'lone bullet' defense but will learn and adapt.
Gregor Paul and Patrick McKendry in Cardiff review the All Blacks match against Georgia, New Zealand may talk the world out of seeing them as favourites to win this World Cup soon enough. It would be nice to think that's why they bungled their way through against Georgia. It wasn't impressive. Not really any of it - a few nice passages, a thrilling first foray from Waisake Naholo and not not much more.
Pictures from the Pool C Rugby World Cup match between the All Blacks and Georgia.
The All Blacks held a coaching masterclass at a local Cardiff school, teams at Whitechurch High school got hands on training from the Rugby World champions and the AB's left the boys very impressed and surprised.
It was all smiles for the All Blacks as they visited the Teenage Cancer Unit at the University Hospital of Wales the day before the Rugby World Cup match against Georgia.
The All Blacks became Royal tourists as they had a delayed departure from their Captains run before the Georgia match, Prince William had the team bus removed for his motorcade to the Wales v Fiji match at the nearby Millennium stadium.
It's tempting to believe there has been a changing of the All Blacks guard in certain positions based on form. Sonny Bill Williams, Charlie Faumuina and Wyatt Crockett all find themselves in a starting XV that remains - everywhere else - absolutely the top side. Their form has been impressive in the first two games while the men they respectively replace - Ma'a Nonu, Owen Franks and Tony Woodcock - have either been quiet or a little bit off where they were expected to be.
The good news for anyone who is a fan of Mamuka Gorgodze's no-nonsense style is that the Georgia skipper is playing against the All Blacks on Saturday morning. The bad news for some of his teammates is that Kiwi coach Milton Haig has decided to rest them for the all-important match against Namibia in Exeter five days after the All Blacks match in Cardiff. The disappointed should have been forewarned, however, as Haig said this was always the plan.
All Blacks coach Steve Hansen looks back at his past Rugby World Cup campaigns from 2003 (Wales) to now, casting his opinion also on the captains right to making on-field decisions.
Gilbert Enoka has worked as mental skills coach for the All Blacks for 14 years and All Blacks coach Steve Hansen and veteran back Conrad Smith give an insight into the man who is shrink to our rugby stars for 200 matches.
All Blacks wing Waisake Naholo is ready for the final stage in his recovery from a broken leg - getting on to the playing field - and if his form in training is any indication he shouldn't have too many problems finding his feet in his second test. In preparing for Saturday morning's World Cup pool match against Georgia at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium, Naholo, back from a cracked fibula suffered on debut against Argentina in Christchurch in July, has been causing problems for his teammates with his unique ability to beat defenders, according to coach Steve Hansen.
Gregor Paul and Patrick McKendry are in Cardiff with the All Blacks and give their opinion and analysis on the AB's changes for the Georgia Rugby World Cup match. Sonny Bill Williams, Charlie Faumuina and Wyatt Crockett all find themselves in a starting XV that remains - everywhere else - absolutely the top side. Their form has been impressive in the first two games while the men they respectively replace - Ma'a Nonu, Owen Franks and Tony Woodcock - have either been quiet or a little bit off where they were expected to be.
New All Blacks Rugby World Cup hooker Codie Taylor's mum saying she is crying when messaging Codie and his dad is 'proud as punch'; and he is glad to be able to say he has become a 'run on 'All Black.
Wales coach Warren Gatland has joked about how he is dreading having to respond to all the well-wishing texts and calls from New Zealand following his team's epic World Cup victory over England at Twickenham. And he also revealed today that the comments by the All Blacks in the aftermath of Wales' 28-25 victory, which puts the Red Dragons on course for a top-two spot in the "Pool of Death", had been "uplifting".
Are the TMOs clogging the World Cup and does the tournament need England to survive their pool. Herald rugby writer Wynne Gray and former All Black Richard Turner discuss those issues and more from 11am today..
In the modern game teams know all about the opposition and their tactics, that is unless you are the All Blacks wanting to know about Georgia, they will be physical... but what else?
It's a mystery to a point of what Georgia are going to bring against the All Blacks, but it will be physical and the All Blacks aren't prepared to let an upset happen.
All Blacks coach Steve Hansen has always targeted the Georgia match as the return for Waisake Naholo to the wing, star AB Julian Savea can't wait for the Super Rugby try scoring machine to play.
Cardiff is a rugby mad city with passionate fans that will fill the sell out Millennium stadium, a favorite ground for All Blacks star Dan Carter.
Who's up, who's down as we run the rule over the contenders and pretenders at the eighth Rugby World Cup.
We get stuck in today. Has the rugby at the World Cup been a dud so far? Would we really give a stuff if England didn't make it out of pool play? And why Justin Hodges won't play the grand final.
Cardiff didn't sleep the night Wales beat England at Twickenham in London, and the All Blacks could hear the celebrating welsh throughout the night in their inner city hotel.
Sometimes the All Blacks get to be tourists, and what better way than on a double-decker open top bus to see London. Sponsors AIG took AB fans and Waisake Naholo with Keven Mealamu and Beuden Barrett to see the sights.
Raw iPhone footage of the Welsh fans singing the national anthem and reaction as they beat England from the Three Rivers pub in Cardiff.
All Blacks meet and greet fans at the AIG Touchline in Canary Wharf.
All Blacks great and former captain and 1987 Rugby World Cup winner Sean Fitzpatrick gives his thoughts on the form teams and how the Rugby World Cup might play out into the quarter and semi-finals.