All Blacks’ determination pleasing Fitzpatrick

Sean Fitzpatrick was surprised by the manner in which New Zealand dismantled Italy last Friday night, but is confident the All Blacks‘ focus and determination will keep them from getting carried away further in the competition.

The 92-capped All Black made his RWC debut in 1987 in another 70-6 decimation of the Azzurri, although the complexion of the build-up to the two games were vastly contradictory.

With the All Blacks heading into this World Cup perhaps the furthest off being the favourites in their history, especially compared to Fitzpatrick’s era, Italy have looked more organised than ever, hence the resounding sense of surprise at the result.

“I didn’t see it coming, I was expecting a much bigger challenge from the Italians,” he said, speaking on The Rugby Paper Podcast.

“They just got an All Black team that got into the right grove, and I don’t think many teams would’ve lived with the All Blacks the way they were playing, that type of rugby.

“When Italy play France, Wales, Ireland, they play them every year, so they know what to expect. They’re not scared. With the All Blacks, it’s just the unknown. We hadn’t played each other for a long time, not regularly. They struck an All Black team that needed to bounce back.”

With New Zealand having faced minnows Namibia and then a bye-week, they’ve had plenty of time to fester in their first ever group stage loss in the opening ceremony against France.

Fitzpatrick, who has spent time in the All Blacks camp, believes this might be why Italy came up against such ruthless opposition.

“They didn’t take any time off on their bye-week. They weren’t going to Disneyland and all those sort of places. They were just focused on loading information, practicing. They are a determined bunch,” he said.

“They struck an All Black team that needed to bounce back, and in the break, they did a lot of work in Bordeaux. Their set piece was outstanding. Their discipline was a lot better than what it was against the French. I was very impressed.”

Given the difficult start to their tournament, their first test back against Tier One opposition was crucial in securing qualification for the knockouts. Their victory means that a win against Uruguay will see them progress, whilst France and Italy embark on a winner takes all clash on Friday night.

 The legendary hooker believes Italy may have always been targeting this weekend’s fixture, against familiar opposition, whilst it’s a chance for the Kiwis to bolster their squad depth.

“I was sitting with Sergio Parisse, he was devastated. He did make the point that maybe they were focusing on the French,” he added.

“I think against Italy, that was New Zealand’s best 23, so they’ve done that. Now it’s an opportunity to give some other players game time. To win a World Cup you need 33 players. There’s certain combinations Ian Foster will want to see.

“There’s enough players there without having a drop off in performance but they need to play well again. They need to keep momentum going, the momentum shift has come back again and we’re in good shape – we’ve got no injuries from that game which is great, and we don’t need any cards.

“That 23 that was there on Friday night, we need every one of them fit. If we lose Jordie Barrett, we’re in real trouble, if we lose Scott Barrett, we’re in trouble. If we lose Shannon Frizell, we’re in trouble. Cards could be a killer in this last week, so we need to be really careful.”

The World Rugby Hall of Famer is by no means, however, underestimating Thursday evening’s opponents. France’s fixture against Italy only holds so much gravity because Uruguay prevented them from a winning bonus point, and for large parts of the game posed them a serious challenge.

“The French got exposed in that second game against Uruguay,” he said. “Uruguay just got into them a bit, just unsettled them, and it changes the complexion and momentum of the game.”

“I know, for a fact, New Zealand are not getting carried away. They know they’ve got a massive job in front of them, they’re just going to go about their work quietly, because no one’s talking about them, which is great.

“No we’re not [favourites], don’t start talking about us now. We’re quite happy.”

Written by Tom Jeffreys

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