In the moments before the All Blacks and Ireland ran on to the Stade de France pitch for their World Cup quarterfinal, the television camera lingered on the face of New Zealand captain Sam Cane.
Cane, staring straight ahead and with eyes like thunder, wore an expression that could have chilled the heart of a volcano. This was the face of a man on a mission.
He went on to make 22 tackles against the Irish, many of them dominant – the best kind which stops an opponent in his tracks, makes the possibility of a turnover far greater and raises the morale of one’s teammates while lowering the opposition's.
Cane is known as having a couple of the hardest shoulders in the New Zealand game and during the 28-24 victory which set the All Blacks on the way to Sunday’s final by way of a similarly inspirational performance against Argentina in the semifinal, they were also carrying the hopes of a nation.
Far from being daunted by that, Cane, a 31-year-old who has come of age at this tournament as a player and leader, is inspired by it.
The Springboks, attempting to win back-to-back titles, are a side forever driven by destiny but this New Zealand team has been forged in a furnace of adversity created by their own ordinary form last year, the real or perceived disrespect shown to head coach Ian Foster, and a whole bunch of doubters leading into France.
Cane bore the brunt of that criticism alongside Foster but presumably few will doubt now that he is a man worthy of wearing the famous black No.7 jersey and leading the All Blacks.
This morning Cane was asked about the depth of feeling for Foster, deemed not good enough to continue by the New Zealand Rugby board and who could be about to have the last laugh by winning a World Cup, and, probably in tandem, the World Rugby coach of the year award.
“We might save that for post-game,” Cane replied. “We’ve got so many reasons to want to play well. One’s not bigger than the other. We want to make New Zealand proud. The support has been truly overwhelming, it makes you so damn proud to be a Kiwi. That’s probably our biggest driving factor.
“There are probably plenty of other little factors as well. It’s easy to let your mind drift to how it’s going to feel if we get the outcome we want, but you have got to be disciplined and bring it back to what’s in front of you.”
A relaxed Foster, sitting alongside Cane in front of a large contingent of media at the team’s Paris hotel, joked: “That’s the first time I’ve been referred to a ‘little factor’ for a while.”
Whatever is driving Cane and the All Blacks, it appears they have got the balance right.
They haven't been overly wound-up in the days leading into their knockout matches but there is a sense of purpose and belief in this team that hasn’t consistently been there since 2015 when the All Blacks swept all before them to go back to back in the United Kingdom.
There are echoes of that team in this one; a bit of the leadership of Richie McCaw in Cane, a touch of Jerome Kaino in Shannon Frizell, even a bit of Dan Carter’s coolness in Richie Mo’unga. And of course Brodie Retallick and Sam Whitelock were important members of the side back then and are on the brink of playing their final Test.
“A lot of it comes down to our preparation,” Cane said. “We’ve got a lot of experience in this squad and it would be silly not to tap into some of that. We’ve been really clear how we have built how we want to play as a team.
“In terms of head and strategy we’re in a good place and with that comes confidence. There will be a high level of emotion and intent to start the game well, there always is.
“But we have played two knockout matches in a row – effectively more than that - and I trust we are in a good spot there. The boys have done a lot of physical and mental prep. Although it is a final, we just have to trust ourselves to go out there and play good footy.”
As good as that performance was against Ireland, Cane believes the All Blacks will have to be better against the world champions, who had to come back in both of their knockout matches against France and England to win by one point.
How much have the Boks got left, really, even accounting for their notorious 7-1 forwards’ stacked bench, their so-called ‘bomb squad’?
Cane will know that having a more comfortable margin of victory in their semifinal – a 44-6 win over Argentina – and an extra day to prepare compared with the Boks could give the All Blacks a boost in the final quarter on Sunday morning NZT.
Regardless, he will be leading from the front again and likely after staring daggers at the cameras pre-match.
“I think we’ll have to be better, to be honest,” he said. “Each week we are building momentum and we are going to have to be at our best defensively and in attack on Saturday. If we put out our best performance of the year, we will give ourselves a good shot.”
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