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Mon 9 Oct 2017 | 08:17
Rieko Ioane calls Springboks and All Blacks classic toughest Test he's played

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Winger Rieko Ioane has said that Saturday's epic 25-24 Test win over South Africa in Cape Town was the toughest he's played so far in his young career. Ioane, who had a try disallowed in the first half, scored a crucial intercept try in the second.

Ioane, still just 20-years-old, has cemented his place as the regular left wing starter for the All Blacks, after coming in for a slightly out of form Julian Savea.

In scoring on Saturday, Ioane became joint top try-scorer in this year's Rugby Championship, tied with Wallaby fullback Israel Folau on five tries each.

The match lived up to the hype, according to Ioane, who first played NZ Sevens aged 17.

"They were saying it is one of the tougher Test matches, and for me, that was the toughest one I've ever played and one that I won't be forgetting," Ioane said.

The first half of the match lasted a gruelling 50 minutes, as South Africa piled on the pressure.

"I think, after that first half though, the game would have been over - it was that long.

"They rushed up and brought a lot of line speed, and I think that put us under a bit of pressure, especially in that first half. Nothing was really sticking for us, a couple of passes were dropped.

"They just put us under huge defensive pressure with their line speed and I think that flowed on well for them. But it was good that the boys were able to grind it out and come away with the victory."

On his try, Ioane says that he just ran, despite being gassed at the time.

"We were on defence for a bit, the ball popped up and I had the easiest job, to just run it in and put the ball down. I did my bit, credit was to the boys for their hard work on defence.

"My lungs were blowing, my legs were gone and I was just hoping that I'd make it the full distance. These young legs managed to do it. I was just happy enough to get over the line, sucking a few big ones on the way back."

The All Blacks now head back home for a week off before they begin preparations for the third and final Bledisloe Cup Test against the Wallabies, in Brisbane on October 21st.

Catch up on highlights from the match below

Posted By: Grant Constable

13 Comments

  • 5:08 PM 11/10/2017

    Oh come on now. The video above is not your only source and we are not limited to what you are prepared to "buy". Watch the side view here starting at 53:17: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVOMOOq1M0o

    The ball clearly does not travel forward (i.e., toward the Green dead ball line) off Crotty's hands. Hence no knock on.

    The grounding is not in dispute, so try is the right call.

  • reality
    12:51 PM 11/10/2017

    Why does the position of his hands matter at 1.42? His hands travel forward faster than the ball because he makes bad contact, but the ball still travels forward, even if a bit slower than Crotty's hands. Therefore, knock-on.

    The idea of him slapping his hands down on the ball while diving at full pace and somehow knocking it backwards towards his own goal line is quite difficult to buy, to be honest.

  • foxtrot
    10:02 PM 10/10/2017

    Maloney?

    I'll have whatever you're having, because it must be some good stuff.

  • dancarter
    1:02 PM 10/10/2017

    The SA commentary was pretty poor, they had poor knowledge of the laws when they discounted that try before it was given, and I think they would have viewed it differently had it been a potential SA try. The NZ commentary team don't get everything right but they are less one-eyed and offer more balance. In an ideal world, a combination of Maloney, Flatman and Greenwood would commentate on everything.

  • breakaway
    1:51 AM 10/10/2017

    So many people here and elsewhere just stating outright that the Crotty try wasn't a try, without looking at why the try was given or the laws that allowed it.
    I had the SA commentary and could clearly hear the TMO and ref agreeing that the ball had been knocked back under the player, who had grounded it with his waist. The video confirms this is what happened and the laws say that's a try, whether you agree with the laws or not.
    Unfortunately both SA and NZ commentators appeared to not understand what was going on, and to be honest, showed once again their patchy understanding of the laws.

  • dancarter
    2:16 PM 09/10/2017

    It's not very often someone outshines Dane Coles, but Marx definitely did. The amount of world class hookers around is great, with 3 of them in the rugby championship alone in Marx, Coles and Creevy.

  • dancarter
    2:14 PM 09/10/2017

    I feel a bit sorry for Garces. The laws don't take into account the force of the contact made. It wasn't much of a blow but it was an elbow directly to the face. It would be very hard to justify not sending a player off for that. I think it had to be at least a yellow, and it was so late in the game that a yellow was equal to a red card in the sense that de Allende wouldn't be returning to the field either way.

  • 1:55 PM 09/10/2017

    It was still a card (according to the SANZAAR commission) so DDA would have been off the field for those minutes regardless.

    As for whether they're right that it should be a yellow (as opposed to nothing) if you put in a late hit plus jump and make contact to the head, you are forcing the ref to make a call. My main concern from a Boks perspective would be why an experienced player showed such crazy indiscipline. Late hits on kickers almost always get called these days, and even if there had been no card he still left his team needing to score twice. Idiot for even putting the ref in that position.

  • katman
    12:30 PM 09/10/2017

    The Crotty try was never a try. Even the ref tried to get the TMO to change his mind - or at least think very carefully - but the TMO persisted with some "creative" reasoning.

  • pete
    12:05 PM 09/10/2017

    *Marx

  • pete
    12:04 PM 09/10/2017

    Great hard contest.

    AB's got the win by taking their limited chances under a lot of defensive pressure but South Africans might feel hard done by. Even I'm not convinced by the Crotty try and thought the red was pretty harsh.

    Marks had a stormer.

  • katman
    10:45 AM 09/10/2017

    Yes, I see SANZAR have rescinded the card, meaning De Allende will face no further sanction. But that won't put him back on the field for those crucial closing minutes of the match.

    What a game though. It didn't relent at all. Obviously I'm disappointed the Boks didn't win. but I'm not disappointed at all in the way they went down. Malcolm Marx and Eben Etzebeth, in particular, were outstanding.

    Also, Damian McKensie is one hell of a player.

  • canafrikaaner
    10:19 AM 09/10/2017

    That red card. Smh.

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