Sam Cane Discusses ‘That Hit’ On Robbie Henshaw For The First Time

All Blacks flanker Sam Cane has spoke out about his controversial hit on Robbie Henshaw last year.

Cane hit Henshaw with a dangerous shoulder into the face that resulted in the centre being stretchered off the pitch, suffering a worrying concussion injury.

The game in question was hugely controversial, with a number of reckless challenges that prompted World Rugby to release new tackles laws this month in order to stamp it out of the game entirely.

Cane reveals he was seriously worried for Henshaw and got a hold of his number to see how he was doing the next day.

“I managed to get his phone number the next day and flick him a text,” Cane told Stuff.

“I did keep an eye to see how long he was out for so it’s good to see him back playing.”

Cane described what happened on the pitch that day and insisted that the potentially lethal hit was completely accidental.

“I anticipated he [Henshaw] was going to move back into that space but Robbie did a pirouette on the spot, which is very rarely seen on rugby field,” Cane said.

“As he did his body height dropped. I had already committed to the tackle and made contact to his head.

“The terrible part about it is that he ended up concussed and having to be stretchered off, which no one likes.

“I’ve had to deal with a couple of concussions myself and it’s not a nice thing. So maybe we have to be a little smarter and not go in as forcefully as you’d like to.

“Rugby is about dominating collisions but if we are risking concussions then it’s not really worth it.

“The biggest collisions happen when you try to make a dominant tackle and tackle with a lot of force and it’s hard to adjust late, so we’re going to have to be slightly more passive.”