All Blacks captain Sam Cane opens up on pitch invader incident: 'I felt bad, and apologised

All Blacks captain Sam Cane said he regretted his “split-second” decision to kick out at a teenage pitch invader in Mendoza following Sunday’s test victory against Argentina, but felt he ended the matter with the young man later that night on a “positive” note and did not expect to face sanction from Sanzaar who are reviewing the matter.

Cane spoke out on the incident after touching down in Auckland on last night admitted that the incident looked bad on video, but wanted to clarify the context of the situation as it was being reviewed by governing body SANZAR.

He says he saw a pitch invader running towards the team with a security guard some distance behind.

In that split--second he made the decision to assist the security guard in stopping him, so he could take him off the field.

Cane says what people wouldn’t realise is there is a big moat round the field and in the time between the final whistle and their team huddle there had already been about five pitch invaders and security were doing the best they could.

It was a bit chaotic out there.

He further says through the power of social media and some locals they tracked him down, had a video call, and he explained that he thought he was an adult’, and he was sorry for what happened.

The All Blacks skipper says the boys name is Roman, he’s a halfback, and he said he might be a decent running halfback because of the way he managed to evade security.

The All Blacks host the Springboks at 7.05pm while the Wallabies play the Pumas at 9.45pm Saturday.

Source: rugbypass