Rugby World Cup 2019: All Blacks pay respect to supporters after Springboks win

The All Blacks made sure to take a Japanese-style bow to every corner of the International Stadium in Yokohama "to show a bit of love back" to the fans who came to support the team. 

The world champions lined up in front of each stand and bowed in unison after they beat South Africa 23-13 in their opening game of the Rugby World Cup.

Captain Kieran Read said it was an important gesture to make after seeing lots of Japanese people wearing All Blacks jerseys. 

"It's really important for us to connect as much as we can with the Japanese people," said Read. 

"We know that they love us as All Blacks, but we need to show a bit of love back to them

"The support has been fantastic so far, we saw that tonight, there was plenty of fans with the black jerseys, which is fantastic. We want to enjoy this tournament, get out and see as many people as we can and, hopefully, get some new fans."

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Reuters