New Zealand United | Episode 2 | All Blacks In Their Own Words 2

Ahead of the most important tournament the All Blacks will play, the team took time to regroup and give back to New Zealand communities. This refocused the team and reconnected them with the country ahead of their journey to the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France. What followed were hard-fought wins against Argentina and the Wallabies, before a reality check against the Springboks at Twickenham in London.

‘In Their Own Words 2’ is the series that looks back on the All Blacks 2023 season. Watch the full series exclusively on NZR+ now, or click the subscribe button to get notified when the episodes are released on the All Blacks YouTube channel.

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Discover more exclusive All Blacks content, like the time we hung out with YouTube sensations, Dude Perfect in Queenstown. Watch the behind the scenes videos now – https://bit.ly/44ZVgAp

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[Applause] if you don’t use faia as your teacher it’ll become your Undertaker we had a turbulent leadup to the Rugby World Cup and Ireland are putting their foot on the throat of the All Blacks here there are still some scars from that series defeat we’ won some games lost some games at times we played really good rugby at other times we played some of the the worst rugby that I can remember being part of Argentina win for the first time uh that was something that was kind of hanging over our heads on 3 1 two three you get three choices in life either give in you give up or you give it everything you got World Cup year is different to any other year World Cups are a different based the pressure is different the expectation is [Music] there coming into 2023 was certainly a unique year for the All Blacks and I’d had 23 years and I’d never had a year like it there was a backdrop of New Zealand Rugby making some decisions that were impacting on the team I have to say it was a pretty unpleasant surprise my response to that’s been pretty well publicized I think that’s a distraction I I don’t see any reason why that can’t happen post World Cup for me I needed to make sure that I put the team first I’m the coach of the all my job is to prepare this team for this world cup and that’s my sole focus and one of the all black values is that the team comes first and the decisions we make are about the team you know it’s one of the key drivers of the All Blacks it always has been and hopefully always will be we just had to get our eye on the Target and that was to go and win a World Cup we knew what we needed to do and wanted to achieve and that was the main thing you know it’s a fresh year exciting year with the World Cup coming bit of a challenge but really proud of the way we we got the group to the starting lot this is my third world cup I’d gone to and we’d made number of changes you know in terms of combinations on the park introduced a few younger guys on we on oh the powder looks good that’s natural Natural Glow no makeup to be able to wear the black Jersey with a phone on it is uh something not a lot of people can do for me to make it for my family is uh it’s pretty surreal here come from a little place in the Far Far North called Kyo it’ll probably take you 30 seconds to drive through it I’ve had to learn a lot of lessons the hard way um growing up I didn’t live with Mom and Dad I live with my sister been Western Australia for 16 years of my life and she had kids were quite young so I was this little moldy boy in the big cities so now I’m grateful that I learned those lessons quite young cuz I like to think I’m quite wise I always wanted to be an all black growing up it’s pretty much every mold kid stream just to do the haaka for me I had a pretty big year the call came from fs and said you know if you fix this and this you could have a chance of making the team so that was just for the championship and I was buzzing [Music] to be honest that was my first ever all game of course I watch the all on TV but that was actually my first all game I’ve been to in person so I was kind of like I was kind of buzzing out and then the manager came over and said mate you’re not here to be a spectator you had to learn we needed to hit the rugby Championship running and we were dominant this is a great start from New Zealand Reco you on it big night for toighty Williams joining the hacker for the first time Bowden Barrett goes wide lovely task to Jordan almost broke the tackle and he went again well Jordan oh my goodness unbelievable pops it out to Taylor here is forel oh my [Applause] goodness away it goes from no let’s see noer I’m pretty sure that everyone knew that I was nervous and I’m just real grateful to be able to put this jersey on yes the start of a lot in all black career for sure between the players and the coaches we had a really clear identity around how we wanted to play and I think with that came a lot of confidence just over 40 days out from the Rugby World Cup oh absolutely nailed and the All Blacks are in quick hands oh beautiful Mark toia scores what a try that is and it’s a big win for the All Blacks and it also means the retention of the blow cap here the gummies it was uh Fuzzy’s decision every year that he’s been in charge of the team we’ve gone to an Era of New Zealand and that may be going through a bit of a hard time so napia had obviously been hit with the floods New Zealand has declared a National Emergency after Cyclone Gabrielle flooded the country’s North [Music] Island as all blacks were in very privileged position and when we went to napia we saw pretty clearly how bad it was was a pretty humbling experience um as you can see getting their shovels clear out the silk my auntie lives in N so they were there in the floods and a lot of their mates and family friends businesses have had to shut down what we’ve leared in the All Blacks if you want to achieve real high performances you’ve got to go deep in terms of understanding who you are and who you’re representing it’s fair to say it’s been a bit of an eye opener for a lot of us seeing the devastation firstand and we’re going to take a lot from this the fact that we get to get our hands a bit dirty mix a mingle and um see the attitude you’re taking sometimes we get so entrenched in in the challenges that we have but when we see someone else’s challenge sometimes our dwarfed in comparison and we got that experience in napia seeing how tough the community was seeing how positive they still were The Pride that we get and and representing those people you know we we’ll get patted on the back for spending half a day cleaning up but we want to thank them cuz they they had a massive impact on them and it just strengthened our connections with our country which I think helped fuel us right through to the end when you go into battle and you got to really dig deep you know like that winning that one in Denon the week before was pretty special for us and that’s the sort of character that you need oh man D’s test week special a place where all my dreams came true really amazing stadium and the fans love it day [Music] it was extra special for me to lead the hacker there for the last time on New Zealand soil [Applause] [Music] [Applause] we’d already won the biters low in the rugby Championship we made a lot of changes and we knew that was going to be challenging right under the shadows of the goal post now Bell hands It Wide PTI and here’s a chance c a b Australia turned up we’ve got to give them credit this time for Hooper the Aussies do what they do that they fought back from theity so two converted tries in the first 8 minutes and boy what a half it has been from the Wes so we were faced with yeah quite a deficit and we managed to to CL it back and wide it goes Stevenson in the corner TI on debut for Shan Stevenson people might say we got out of jail but the key is to just stay in it and we stayed in it for Aaron Smith fale fale getting close try scored on De I think they gives a team real good confidence you know to be able to um have that belief late in the game we knew how important it would be for us in the World Cup where you know we could say to each other like boys we’ve we’ve done this before we’ve been here 2 and a half minutes left in the test and they’re going back for the strong penalty can Richie War KCK a penalty for to put them in front as a kid you always dream of those moments and you really feel the pressure [Applause] please Mo up it goes that was an awesome chance to do what I’ve dreamed as a kid for the All Blacks All Blacks win that was kind of like the Great Escape amazing cut there from the All Blacks the thing I remember most about that game was having players in the All Blacks play their last game for the old blacks on New Zealand soil years you know to see nugi and to see Coy and to see you know what you know just just filled with joy and for those boys who have given so much to this team before the World Cup we played in South Africa the team that they picked it was pretty obvious that they wanted to beat us up physically it wasn’t a dead rubber it was a game that we wanted to win and build towards the World Cup man to break up the interception no one will catch him we were showed up we got outplayed that night physically powering their way forward got in a little card trouble the result speaks for itself we were pretty disappointed gave us a hiding right before the World Cup it is a record Victory and by some distance that was frighteningly one-sided wasn’t it we got annihilated they just weren’t up for it they they they just mentally weren’t there and I can’t understand why anyone who wanted to have a dig at us was having a dig the more pressure that came externally from different people the tighter we got see when we got to France there was an instant feeling of okay it is here now we’re actually playing in a World Cup the capping ceremony is always exciting you’re welcomed into your designated city or town and the fans turn out it’s pretty cool I really felt the love from the French community so uh buzzing boys got the new C looking for that’s what I’m going to hit All Blacks against France what an opening match to play at the World Cup we’re on now all the waiting the B up has been and gone we here to do a job I don’t even know what St to France was and then I remember we on the bus and just seeing the lights I was like oh my God you knew that you were in foreign territory we’ve walked into one here chasing this is going to be the time where all blacks get embarrassed at a world C put questions on your head we knew it was massive for us it was Do or Die the are games you want to play as a rugby player flying finish there’s no next week unless you get the job done we to make some tough decisions I’m sideline so I can’t do anything now we all able to send a statement was all pointed into that game Sam White [Applause]