New teams such as ours, with no experience at this level, need to build many things from scratch and it's not easy to perform on the way to high performance. Next year, when the dust has settled, these players will understand what we had told them before about standards and setting the bar high.
Until you live all of this, you think you understand, but in reality you are only imagining. And once you've lived it, it takes a new meaning, a new dimension, and then you understand. With experience, growth will follow.
Despite losing 42-12, the performance was reaffirmation. The boys now know that they can play, which is a big thing. The knowledge that you are in a World Cup and you have the ability validates the huge effort made to get here.
South America is far from the world - geographically, financially, in terms of competition. So when you get closer to this standard and realise you can play some rugby and show your standard, it is very good. They also understand that if you give an inch it is costly. That is the cruel reality of playing at this level.
This story is from the November 2023 edition of Rugby World.
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This story is from the November 2023 edition of Rugby World.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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