All Blacks great claims sledging inspired Sam Cane’s heroics against Ireland : Planet Rugby

Sam Cane’s standout performance for the All Blacks in their 2023 Rugby World Cup quarter-final win over Ireland was prompted by a sledgehammer he received from Peter O’Mahony during the countries’ three-test series in New Zealand in 2022.

That was the word from legendary All Blacks second-row Brodie Retallick, who was at the heart of the action during his team’s world championship victory last year and when O’Mahony verbally abused Cane in the third and final test in Wellington two years ago.

O’Mahony was spotted telling All Blacks captain Cane he was “just as Richie McCaw” during the third and deciding test in Wellington, which Ireland won 32-22 and in doing so secured their first ever series victory over the All Blacks in New Zealand.

When the two sides met again in this play-off clash at the Stade de France, Cane led from the front, making a game-high 21 tackles as the All Blacks sealed a deserved 28-24 victory.

O’Mahony’s words used as motivation by Cane

And Retallick believes those words from O’Mahony motivated Cane to deliver the performance he did that day in Paris.

“Maybe you can thank Peter for that,” Retallick said on the Take Action with Jim Hamilton“He still remembered what he said, he hadn’t forgotten. He said, ‘You’re like Richie McCaw,’ and I was there next to him.

“You have that natural instinct. The fear of being beaten, the fear of being eliminated, it adds a little extra to your preparation. Nobody in the world of competition wants to be the underdog, but we probably were.”

Retallick, who retired from international rugby after the All Blacks’ narrow defeat to the Springboks in the World Cup final, said he had no problem with banter or verbal abuse on the field.

“It doesn’t bother me. When I started playing Super Rugby it might not have been a part of the game anymore, but it was there and that’s what I learned,” added the 33-year-old, who currently plays for Kobelco Kobe Steelers in Japan’s Rugby League One competition.

“The mental side of the game, if you’re on top of them or if someone’s having a bad day, you let them know.”

After O’Mahony’s thrashing of Cane in 2022, several All Blacks players were quick to get their revenge on the Irish back row with a few words of their own after their World Cup quarter-final win and Retallick was the first to start the shouts, telling his opponent: “Oi, Peter! Four more years, you bastard.”

Retallick admitted making the comment after remembering what O’Mahony had said to Cane in Wellington the previous year.

“I remembered that moment in Wellington where he was obviously pulverising Sam and giving it to us when we had lost and they were winning,” he revealed.

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“Good for them, I think it’s part of the game and fair play. I felt like this was my opportunity to let him know back.

“After the quarter-final he was right in front of me and I said it. I spoke to Peter a few times, had a beer with him and I think it’s all part of the game. I hope he sees it was a mistake.”

“I haven’t spoken to him since… but that’s about it.”

Retallick admitted the Paris encounter was one of the most intense games he has played in and the All Blacks had to dig deep to secure victory.

“You have those weeks in test rugby where you know the game is going to be important and it’s going to be physical,” he said.

“The intensity was at its peak. The French crowd – mostly Irish supporters – were very loud in the stadium.

“It was blow for blow for a while until Richie (Mo’unga) made that counter-attack off the back of a lineout and then it was like the game came alive.

“A little blurry”

“It’s almost a blur. We defended so long at the end until Sam got the turnover.

“The set pieces, the tries, the breakthroughs, the physicality, everything you can imagine for a good rugby match.”

Ireland arrived at the Rugby World Cup as the highest-ranked team in the official World Rugby Rankings, but the pressure was on Andy Farrell’s side to progress to the quarter-finals – a feat they have yet to achieve.

“I wouldn’t say we consider ourselves the underdogs, we’ve spoken to them about all the pressure. There’s the quarter-finals (which they lost), they beat us in Wellington, they beat us in the last two games we’ve played against them,” Retallick said.

“I guess we had a bit of a grudge against Wellington and what better way to end that than a quarter-final.”

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