Reuben Thorne: New Zealand supporters demand the best

ALL BLACK captain Reuben Thorne paused and broke into a rare smile.

For five weeks Thorne had reacted to questions with stoicism and a selection of stock answers about the challenges ahead.

Then a question yesterday from an Australian journalist, inquiring how a World Cup semi-final loss to the Wallabies would affect New Zealand, had the 28-year-old momentarily stumped.

“New Zealand is a funny place,” Thorne finally replied. “When it comes to New Zealand supporters, some of them will come up to you and say ‘good luck’, but most of them will come up and say ‘don’t let us down’.

“That is quite a big difference. We do our best but the reality is that we can't win them all. We take the pressure off ourselves in this team by saying we prepare as well as we can and we perform as well as we can.”

Thorne was a member of the All Black side who were dumped out of the semi-finals of the 1999 tournament by a rampant French second-half performance and was well aware of the recriminations of that loss in New Zealand.

Coach John Hart was vilified, and such was the reaction of the public that there were reports of objects being thrown at a horse he owned while it was racing, while he was also subjected to verbal abuse.

“They will be very emotional and very passionate about it, they will be pumped up for this game,” said Thorne who added that the team was also acutely aware of its importance. “Everybody is aware of the situation we are in. You don’t get a second chance. You can’t hold anything back hoping to be in the final, we have to put everything into it.”

Thorne said he had felt the 1999 loss had also helped in his development as a player. “If anything I would like to hope it made me a stronger player,” the blindside flanker said. “It's something I've left behind me and I don't really think about it too much.

“We are a better organised side than we were then. There is also a really strong belief in this side that if things don't go well then we will get on with the job at hand.”

Such was the determination to concentrate on the semi-final, Thorne said he noticed an appreciable change in the team at training yesterday.

“We trained this morning and it was pretty quiet actually. There wasn't a lot being said and that's normally a pretty good sign that they’re switched on.

“From here on in it's just getting the mental side 100%. We have done the physical preparation and it's hopefully looking good.”

While the All Blacks appeared to have played within themselves and the Wallabies had seemingly spluttered into the semi-finals, Thorne said they were taking nothing for granted. “We will not go there and underestimate the Wallabies. In recent years they have had the better of us. They’re in a difficult situation. They're getting a hard time. They're out there trying to do their best and I don’t think they will let it affect their performance on Saturday. They're a better team than that.

“They’re not falling to pieces and have won through to a World Cup semi-final and they've been bagged the whole way, but here they are. They've got as much chance as anyone else.”

Utility back Mils Muliaina is also acutely aware of the expectations at home ahead of the battle with the defending champions. The 23-year-old Auckland utility back was on a trip to Fiji when the All Blacks crashed to the 43-31 semi-final defeat against France four years ago and had to watch a delayed telecast of the game, though it did not lessen his disappointment.

“Everyone was really down and I think the country was expecting a bit more, but we're not really focusing on that,” he said. “We are just taking it each game at a time and this is the big one. There are no second chances and we don't want to look at the consequences.”

Muliaina speaks with the thick burr of someone who grew up in the deep south of New Zealand.

The rolling r's are the giveaway. While he was Samoan born, the three-year-old Malili quickly picked up the local accent after his parents migrated to Invercargill 20 years ago.

“There weren't too many other brown faces down there, but the Invercargill community was very accepting,” he said. “I've only got great memories of growing up in Invercargill.

“I didn't know much about Samoa. We were brought up traditionally, but as I got older that sort of grew out of me.

“I grew up in Invercargill and I didn't know anything different.”

While his strong defence and ability to enter the backline with punch make him a dangerous player, several times this tournament Joe Rokocoko and Doug Howlett have paid tribute to his selflessness in offloading at the right time.

“They tell us to play it as we see it,” said Muliaina. “Robbie (Deans) tells me to look at the options and then if nothing is on then smack it back down there, but I haven't smacked it down there yet.

“If it is on to run, then it's good to have the confidence you will have guys around you to help out and that's all I can ask for.”