Halfpenny joins AB detractors
Wales wing Leigh Halfpenny says New Zealand are no longer a side you place on the pedestal.
Coach Warren Gatland spoke earlier in the week about the All Blacks losing their “aura of invincibility” and it seems his players aren’t afraid to have a dig either. New Zealand relinquished their Tri-Nations crown this year and haven’t won a World Cup since 1987.
‘I think the time where players were in awe of them has gone and it’s definitely about us and not them,’ Halfpenny told The Western Mail. ‘We are quietly confident that it could be a good time to get a win after 50-plus years.’
New Zealand thumped Wales 29-9 in the last match between the two nations thanks to a second-half fightback. Wales led 9-6 at half-time, and Halfpenny said they will take heart from that showing.
‘We have definitely gained belief from last season that they are not invincible. We had them on the ropes until halftime.
‘Every game you play you learn from and, as a squad, we definitely learned from that experience. We have to have the belief this time that we can go out and play for the full 80 minutes and get a result. Anything other than a win will be a disappointment.’
Halfpenny added that his comments should not be construed as a lack of respect for the Blacks.
‘They are a superb team and everyone wants to play them. The haka is pretty special and it was great seeing that up close for the first time last season.’
November 4th, 2009 at 1:37 pm
Quietly confident…???
This guy obviously doesn’t understand the term… Could he be any louder…?
What can we say…? With a name like Halfpenny, he doesn’t even get to have his tuppence (2c) worth…!!
I think the ABs are gonna give Wales a warm klap!! (hot smack… for our NZ friends)
November 4th, 2009 at 1:37 pm
#48 cab: a top coach no doubt, I just don’t think he understands the media game very well. The old ‘Welsh don’t like the Irish’ went down like a lead balloon in the press, Wales inevitably lost after that one, at home too.
November 4th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
When in the history of rugby union has slagging off the All Blacks been a successful tactic?
Thank God Wales wear red because we wouldn’t want any kids or namby pambys psychologically damaged when the All Blacks make the leek eaters bleed!
AB’s will put 50 past them
November 4th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
#50 Test:
yeah exactly
#52 Big Hit:
he’s def improved wales, but he’s not short of a quip especially on the tours, and yet all the Bokke have seen mostly is big talk from him.
November 4th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
Halfpenny’s got a big mouth for a little boy. I think Sivivatu and co are going to make him eat those words though
November 4th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
#48 cab:
never the maestro club is very exclusive. How dare you lump Gatland with PDV 
November 4th, 2009 at 1:53 pm
#56 Jozi:
yeah true, no-one can apply the use of metaphor quite like The Greatest.
November 4th, 2009 at 1:56 pm
#49 Test:
so, then they have nothing to lose. All upside then.
Gatlands far from a fool. Eddie Jones did the same, Woodward before 2003. Bob Dwyer. Jake White. None of these men are fools.
The fact that Wales are more than likely to lose means nowt. They certainly wont win if they DO say the aura remains, the battle is already lost.
The Boks dont need to say it because that mentality the ABs have is also sewn deep in to the fabric of the Green’n'Gold Jersey. The Lions too.
There is also part-Mourinho is Gatlands psychology – he wants to take most of the media attention himself and there deflect the pressure from the players, to give them the best opportunity to win. Like all great coaches, he remains slightly detached from the team and allows his co-coaches like S.Edwards to be his eyes’n'ears, closer to the players.
Talk big, play big. Win.
November 4th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
#55 rich1: well he probably would but he’s banned
November 4th, 2009 at 2:43 pm
nope the Boks dont see any AB aura at all, black is to the springbok what red is to the bull, they lift their game to another level becuase they know they can beat them and have done so for most of their history or at least its been evens.
November 4th, 2009 at 2:54 pm
NZ have 1 more World Cup than Wales has, or will ever have.
Give those dirty miners a smack, Richie
November 4th, 2009 at 3:07 pm
Hope the AB’s beat the **** outa Wales.
November 4th, 2009 at 4:36 pm
Wallis gaan hulle gatte sien. Wanneer gaan hulle leer hulle moenie windgat raak voor games teen die suidelike halfrond nie?
Krieketscore….
November 4th, 2009 at 6:48 pm
All Blacks to klap Wales hectic, leaving snot marks all over the Millenium Stadium.
November 4th, 2009 at 7:37 pm
I think without Dan the man the All Blacks would have won by about 10 points or so but now with the maestro there and Smith back in mid field who is very under rated I think the Blacks will win by at least 20 points.. Although the Blacks are seconds behind us at the moment,they dont play to win,they play to hammer opposition so can see Wales making many excuses come Sunday..
November 4th, 2009 at 8:25 pm
The All Blacks will demolish Wales. Such confidence is meaningless vs reality, Halfpenny is palying with Fire. . Everbody has begun to believe the AB’s have crunbled after lossing to an organised Bok side 3 times, for the first time in ages..
November 4th, 2009 at 8:44 pm
Leigh Halfpenny may be right, but the NH sides have not yet earned the right to say that. Let’s see if he can still talk after the game.
November 4th, 2009 at 8:44 pm
#15 The Jinxta: Have no doubt Jinxie. ABs will beat Wales. ABs by 10. Somthing like that.
November 4th, 2009 at 8:48 pm
#37 cane: Cane you win that lottery mate and come and enjoy the best vibe and biggest braai party at a rugby game at Kings Park with me.
November 4th, 2009 at 8:54 pm
Halfpenny don’t be dof. Why aggravate the men in black unnecessarily.
November 4th, 2009 at 9:25 pm
Heart with Wales….money elsewhere.
November 5th, 2009 at 12:56 am
The welsh are lekker groot bek for a team that consistently loses to southern hemisphere teams.
November 5th, 2009 at 7:09 am
The problem with the Welsh is errm the Players, they seem to believe in there own Hype (of which they have none)
Everyone likes Welsh rugby, the people are great, stadium is awesome, just over the last few years they walk the talk like they are the number 1 side in the world…
So Wales will get a snotklap…
The biggest mouths on the B&I lions tour this year were the Welsh, and all they did were get smashed backwards in every tackle. nothing will change.
November 5th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
gees, reading this thread Wales dont stand a chance in hell… hmmmm last time NZ were such overwhelming favourites they got beaten by a pommy ref
… who is the ref for this game?
although I too think NZ will win, 6 changes can be quite disruptive, especially to a team that has had disruptions all season long… still, I dont believe Wales can win, they may again go into halftime with a lead, but I think that would be more good fortune then good management…
excited for Guildford, deserves his spot and I hope he takes it with both hands…
still dont know why we have Tialumpa playing, the guy is a bookend that lumbers laboriously around the field… put Franks in there and let him gain experience, Tialumpa will not(or shouldnt) be in the cartels plans for 2011, he is hopeless…
November 5th, 2009 at 2:03 pm
#74 poppa69: Craig Joubert reffing, Barnesy’s working with the England team
Looking forward to seeing Guildford playing, Tialumpa looks like an angry frog during the haka, well worth watching
November 5th, 2009 at 5:25 pm
#75 Big Hit:
Craig Joubert makes Barnesy look like an Old Pro.
Craig Joubert masks should be sold on Halloween.
Craig Joubert is in the next Saw movie.
Craig Joubert eats Children for breakfast.
Craig Joubert made Emperor Palpatine turn to the Dark Side.
November 5th, 2009 at 5:39 pm
#76 WakaNathan: he’s not that bad is he? he gave NZ all the scrum calls in the first fixture of the year. I like Joubert as a ref, preferable to Kaplan and Jonker on the test stage, M.Lawrence my most preferred ref. Unfortunately we have the other Lawrence this weekend…
November 5th, 2009 at 5:48 pm
the taffs don;t have the firepower to stop the kiwis even if they play kak.
the kiwis will revert to stampkar rugby and the taffs don’t have the pack.
…and that is one of the reasons the Kiwis are hating us.We will not roll over and play dead for them anymore.
Try and imagine how pissed they were when their uber-skilled Chiefs got destroyed at altitude by 50 points.
South Africa not only has always had the players….but now has any number of experienced and competant coaches across the board who know how to prepares their players.
The days of Robbie Deans ooh-ing,aaying-and-grunting-a-lot to 7 Super championships are long gone.
They hate us because they fear us….even the useless arse Taffs are jumping on the bandwagon.
November 5th, 2009 at 5:50 pm
and anyway, isn’t that poepol Phillips ahead of Halfpenny in the pecking list?
November 5th, 2009 at 5:55 pm
#78 Brigadier Van Zyl: Post of the year Brigadier!
November 5th, 2009 at 6:02 pm
#79 Brigadier Van Zyl: Phillips is injured, perhaps until February.
November 5th, 2009 at 7:01 pm
#77 Big Hit:
Joubert & Plonker are the Laurel & Hardy of the Ref World, both desperate to out-hopeless each other. It matters not whether Joubert has whistled for or against my team, BH, that misses the point (again). He makes too many random calls, too, often to even make me look past the thin veneer of ‘the firmer I blow the whistle the more I look in control’. Bloody ‘opeless, e is.
Mark Lawrence is the best but even he makes bad calls. Ooh, Mark, 1 min you have enough doubts to ask for the TMO, the next you dont – cmon, surely the fact the TMO was slow surely meant there was ALOT of doubt. Poor decision all round.
Bryce Lawrence is just an annoying little cretin. However he does often get calls right, far more than Laurel & Hardy for starters.
But on the Hopeless Scale, Ive got Joubert nudging out Barnesy with another small blow of the pea back to Plonker.
Id take Chris White and the mad Frenchman any day if I couldnt have M.Lawrence.
Craig Joubert made Hannibal Cannibal cry.
November 5th, 2009 at 7:09 pm
#82 WakaNathan: No refs no rugby.
There’s too much bitching about refs imo.
Tough gig.
Need to be really really fit. Need to have the eyes of a hawk. Need to have eyes in teh back of your head. Need to take no **** from mouthy guys. Need to know how the scrum actually works.
I am on their side.
I see little bias, they call it as they see it.
Some “styles” we like, some we don’t.
November 5th, 2009 at 7:11 pm
#82 WakaNathan: I have no problem with Lawrence overruling the TMO, as far as I know it was a Japanese TMO so he had no idea whether he was going to respond.
I think you have legitimate complaints about Jonker but Joubert is amongst the best imo. Don’t rate White at all, Barnesy is twice the referee, clearly Paddy O’Brien agrees. The Frenchman would be good if he could speak better English, top ref imo. Bryce Lawrence isn’t the worst, but pretty tempramental.