Pocock: “We’ll Cop It On The Chin. That’s How It Ends”

Beaten. Battered. Bruised. David Pocock resembled an extra from the TV series The Walking Dead after his team had been defeated in the 2015 Rugby World Cup final. Two black eyes, a blood-spattered face and sunken cheekbones revealed just how physically exacting this decider had been.

Australia were brave but ultimately beaten by a ruthless New Zealand side that moved up a gear when needed and took the game away from their trans-Tasman neighbours. It was a sad way to end what had been a fantastic tournament for Pocock and his band of Wallabies, reborn these past few weeks under the revitalising leadership of Michael Cheika.

“Really, really disappointed,” the 27-year old said. “A huge amount of work has gone into it. We’ve loved the time together and the work we’ve put into it so, to come short at the end of it is disappointing. But that’s sport and we’ll take something out of it and move on.”

“It was big, it was intense,” Pocock said. “There was a lot of pressure at the set piece and the breakdown, from both teams. It’s exactly what we expected and we came up short.”

“It’s not how we wanted this to end, obviously, but credit to the All Blacks. They were good tonight and we’ll cop it on the chin. That’s how it ends.”

Source: The Guardian