All Black captain Richie McCaw was 'pretty dumb' admits New Zealand coach Steve Hansen after yellow card for tripping
- New Zealand beat Argentina 26-16 in first Rugby World Cup game
- Richie McCaw and Conrad Smith were both sent to the sin-bin
- Steve Hansen says 'we can’t afford to keep playing with 14 men'
- McCaw admitted 'It was a dumb mistake I made'
All Black captain Richie McCaw was labelled ‘dumb’ by his coach Steve Hansen after being sent to the sin as the defending champions opened their World Cup campaign with a shaky win over Argentina.
The world’s most capped player of all time was handed only the third yellow card of his 143rd by English referee Wayne Barnes when he intentionally tripped up Pumas flanker Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe 29 minutes in.
Nine minutes later, McCaw's team-mate Conrad Smith was also handed a yellow card as the All Blacks went in 13-12 down at half time before replacement Sonny Bill Williams inspired a second-half revival which saw the New Zealanders win 24-16.
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Referee Wayne Barnes shows the yellow card and indicates that McCaw had been penalised for a trip
McCaw was left to sit on the bench for ten minutes and admitted 'It was dumb that I was sitting there'
Steve Hansen (centre) blasted his two senior pros, McCaw and Conrad Smith, for their 'dumb' yellow cards
‘The two yellow cards today were pretty dumb,’ Hansen said. ‘Speaking to both the boys they know they were dumb ones and sometimes in the heat of the moment you have a brain explosion.
'I thought the rest of the discipline was pretty good. But we’ll have a chat about it because we can’t afford to keep playing with 14 men and at one stage only 13.’
The All Blacks' stuttering first-half display, in front of a world record crowd of 89,019 at Wembley, was put down to nerves and ill-discipline by their coach.
Hansen added: ‘The scoreboard reflects that it was very, very hard. It took a long time to get on top.
‘The fact we gave away two yellow cards, both warranted, meant we played for 20 minutes with only 14 players. That makes it a bit tougher.
'In saying that I thought our players showed a lot of fortitude. We’re on track and we’ll improve from there.’
McCaw waits to come back on, as he is booed by much of the Wembley crowd during the game
Smith was also shown a yellow card, with the All Blacks playing with just 13 men for a short period
While the crowd enjoyed an outstanding match, McCaw was twice roundly booed when he appeared on the giant screen.
‘It’s normal over here,’ Hansen added. ‘It’s been happening for years. We’ll take it with a grain of salt and for what it is which is a mark of respect for a great player. You don’t get booed unless you’re any good. If you’re no good, no one cares.’
McCaw, sitting alongside his coach, agreed with Hansen's assessment.
‘I was sitting in the sin bin at the time so I didn’t really have a lot of comeback,’ he said of the booing.
‘It was dumb that I was sitting there. It was a dumb mistake I made. It is what it is. It’s happened before and getting wound up about it is not going to help. It’s a way of putting people off but you can’t let it affect you.’
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