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McCaw lost for words

McCaw: Shell-shocked and lost for words

A shell-shocked and heart-broken Richie McCaw says the All Blacks allowed themselves to become 'rattled' by France which cost them dear in an epic 20-18 RWC quarter-final defeat in Cardiff.

The hurt was there for all to see as McCaw tried to put into words the feelings of not just himself, but of the All Black squad and a nation.

"We had dreams of what we would do today but we got beaten by a better team," he told NZPA.

"The pain in the guys' eyes and their body language sums it up. Some of them have just probably played their last game for the All Blacks and that hurts as well it's hard to put it into words but there are some pretty shattered guys as you would have expected."

From the off, when they confronted the Haka, France played with a passion that proved too much for New Zealand, who at times played some of the best rugby this World Cup has seen. But France had every answer they needed, at one stage defending 31 phases before turning the ball over and clearing their lines.

But the fact now remains that New Zealand will wait another four years before having a shot at World Cup glory, having blown what many saw as their best chance since winning the Webb Ellis trophy in 1987.

McCaw was at a loss as to why and how it had all happened to his side.

"I think in the first half perhaps we got lulled into playing a little bit of aerial ping-pong," he said.

"We didn't settle and didn't get our set-piece to play the game we were after.

"At half-time we came in and said we need to go up a level and score first and get the pressure on and we didn't do that.

"We had a guy in the bin and perhaps got a little rattled there and then the French lifted and playing against a good team you can't let them get on top like that.

"We did well to claw back and score a try but hell, if I had the answer we would have sorted it out and I think I will be thinking about that for quite some time."

He dismissed suggestion a lack of lead-up matches and soft pool games may have been a contributing factor.

"We were ready we knew what we were in for. A lot of the guys have been through this experience before.

"We knew the French would be up for the game. We have played big test matches with less rugby so I don't think that was a factor.

"We went out there to play our best but perhaps we were not allowed to play out best against a good French team I guess the rest is history.

"You can have a whole lot of excuses but I have to say I think the boys were ready to play we just didn't put it out there."