RWC Special I: Under pressure

ABs squeezed until they burst, and the Raters hit the ground running ($).

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It’s not the loss that was troubling, but the manner of it.

Being comprehensively outmuscled at the scrum and edged in the tackle area was not in itself shocking, but not having the smarts to mitigate those areas of weakness and not having the discipline to absorb pressure - that’s 100 percent on the coaches and on-field leaders.

France, like South Africa before them, went to school and enrolled in How To Beat the All Blacks 101 and one class was all it took to qualify with honours.