Taylor excited by new faces in the All Blacks environment

GettyImages 1278878244

At Wednesday's press conference, All Blacks hooker Codie Taylor was asked if the All Blacks were expecting Australia to adopt a similar sort of approach to that achieved by England in the World Cup semifinals.

He said while he would never forget the experience of losing in a World Cup. It hurt, but, in a new season, there was a new group of players with several who were not part of the World Cup team and they were bringing a whole lot of energy to help the All Blacks of 2020 get through.

New players and new coaching staff meant there was a lot of excited people in the group involved at Test level for the first time.

"We're looking forward to Sunday. It's been almost a year since we played, so we are using that as fuel to get back out there and pull on the black jersey," he said.

"We're here to play and front up as All Blacks. Whether they are going to try to disrupt us is part of rugby. Usually, if you do that well you come out on top, but if we don't get our mindset right, they could come here and put a show on.

"We've just got to front up mentally, make sure we get all the detail right in our game and that should nullify anything they try and do," he said.

The new players had settled into the team environment well, they were showing no signs of being intimidated, and they were encouraged to remain themselves and to get out on the field and express themselves.

Taylor said he expected new captain, flanker Sam Cane, would relish his leadership role. He always gave 100 per cent on the field. Off the field, he could be serious when he needed to be, but there were times when he could have a laugh and be one of the boys.

"He's got a good leadership group behind him, and he'll be excited to get out there. There'll be nerves, but the boys have got his back 100 per cent," he said.

Cane also showed he could connect with every player in the group, and that was useful when out on the field and under the pump.

"You know that he is going to give everything and he trusts that you can do the same and that goes a long way again for those young boys coming through," he said.

Limited tickets are still available to the first Bledisloe Cup Test presented by Steinlager HERE.

LATEST NEWS

View all