All Blacks coach Ian Foster on going ‘full throttle’ for Springboks Test
Coach Ian Foster has explained the All Blacks’ decision to go “full throttle” for Friday night’s Test with the World Champion Springboks, with selectors picking a near full-strength side.
With just 80 minutes of Test rugby to play until their Rugby World Cup opener against hosts France next month, the All Blacks have named a familiar-looking lineup.
New Zealand have made three changes to the starting side that put on a show against the Springboks in Auckland last month, and they’re all in the forwards.
Veterans Dane Coles and Sam Whitelock will start against the Boks, and so will blindside flanker Luke Jacobson. The backline, which includes Will Jordan on the right wing, is the same.
The All Blacks have decided not to wrap any players in cotton wool, with coach Foster insisting they had to approach this Test properly before the World Cup.
“That’s your opinion, (saying it’s) the first choice,” Foster told reporters in London on Wednesday.
“We took some guys out of the Dunedin Test and it’s important that, we think the gap between the last Test and the France was too big.
“Clearly we’ve got two or three players that we’re looking after from an injury perspective but the rest of it, it’s a great Test match two weeks before a World Cup.
“The only way to go into this is full throttle.”
The All Blacks have matched the Springboks energy and enthusiasm for this clash – which isn’t a surprise, really – with the defending World Cup winners picking a ferocious side.
But the New Zealanders will be full of confidence, and rightly so. The All Blacks secured The Rugby Championship with big wins over Argentina, South Africa and Australia.
The All Blacks also retained the Freedom Cup and Bledisloe Cup, and go into this warm-up Test on the back of four wins from as many starts.
With the All Blacks’ convincing 35-20 win at Mt Smart Stadium still fresh in the minds of rugby fans, this Test on the hallowed of Twickenham gives both teams a chance to make one final statement going into the World Cup.
“I think performance is always key. It’s always the thing that we’re chasing, and when you get the combination of both you’re pretty happy,” Foster added.
“We’ve started well this year, we know we’ve got to build, we know the intensity is only going to get higher, and this is a great way to test ourselves.
“Rather than having game that potentially didn’t have the same edge to it and meant the buildup would be different, the buildup is great for this because we know we have to match the intensity of the South African team.
“We have to turn up and get ready so that’s what we want.”
The All Blacks have made a series of surprising selections on the bench though, with coach Foster going with a 6-2 split to take on the Boks.
Halfback Cam Roigard and midfielder Anton Lienert-Brown are the only options off the pine in the backline.
But Foster made this decision with the forwards in mind.
“That’s effectively a squad management technique for this game.
“Clearly with Brodie Retallick out at the moment, and with Shannon Frizzel in the same boat – they’re both actually progressing really well by the way, a little bit ahead of schedule which is pleasing.
“We really want to manage our locking stocks so we’re taking advantage of utilizing Josh Lord while he’s over here and (that’ll) give us a good chance to manage the time that Scott and Sam have.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Danny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
2 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
2 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
5 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
35 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to comments