The All Blacks have retreated to Germany for a pre-World Cup camp where captain Sam Cane said they are heeding the wake-up call from the Twickenham humiliation against the Springboks.
Despite sweeping the Rugby Championship and the Bledisloe Cup, New Zealand suffered a rude awakening in a record loss to the world champions.
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The 28-point margin marked New Zealand’s biggest-ever defeat, just two weeks before they get their World Cup campaign underway against hosts France.
“It was a horrible feeling on Friday night and the next day,” Cane told 1News from All Blacks camp at the adidas HQ in Herzogenaurach.
“With a couple of days to settle, I think we’ll look back and hopefully take the lessons we have from the game and implement them… then I really hope that we can look back and say we’re glad it happened when it did.
“But only time will tell.”
With their 12-game unbeaten run now dusted, the All Blacks have turned their full attention to the opener against Les Bleus, who warmed up with a comfortable win over the Wallabies.
“There is a lot riding on it. We know that but we’re pretty excited by the challenge and we know that anything can happen,” said Cane.
“All our efforts are going into nailing this first game and we’ll reset and continue that path. It’s cool that it’s finally here.”
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Photo: MICHAEL BRADLEY / AFP