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All Blacks coach Ian Foster reflects on ‘special day’ against Ireland
By all reports, coach Ian Foster was one game away from the axe as the All Blacks prepared for a menacing clash with rivals South Africa at the cauldron that is Ellis Park last year.
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But Foster would live to see another day as head coach. The All Blacks defied the odds and emerged victorious 35-23 at Ellis Park, which saw New Zealand publicly back Foster through to the World Cup.
It was a decision that raised the eyebrows of some All Blacks fans at the time, sure, but is two games away from proving to be a masterstroke. The All Blacks are through to the World Cup semi-finals.
Playing in front of more than 78,000 supporters at Stade de France, the All Blacks – just as they did in South Africa – overcame the ‘underdogs’ tag as they ended Ireland’s impressive win streak at 17 Tests on Saturday evening.
The All Blacks took the lead in the seventh minute through a Richie Mo’unga penalty goal and never looked back as they held on for a thrilling 28-24 win, which sets up a semi against southern hemisphere rivals Argentina.
“I think South Africa was pretty important last year too,” Foster told reporters at the Parisian venue. “This one was up there. It is a special day.
“The world has been talking about these two quarter-finals for 12 months now, even longer. France v South Africa is likely to be the same. They are massive games, two very proud teams, desperate to win it.
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Penalties Conceded
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“Sometimes the sweetest victories are when your opponents play really well and test you to the limit. We didn’t want to play Ireland with two yellow cards. We played a lot of that game with 14 men but I couldn’t be more proud of the players. I thought we looked in control of it.”
New Zealand extended their lead with inside centre Jordie Barrett nailing a long-range penalty attempt from about 49 metres out in the 13th minute. The All Blacks completed their dominant start to the Test with a converted try to wing Leicester Fainga’anuku soon after.
Leading 13-nil, the All Blacks were well in truly in control. Ireland fans booed and cheered as they looked to spur the green machine onto a much-needed comeback.
Captain Johnny Sexton converted a penalty and Bundee Aki scored five minutes later to, almost suddenly, make it a three-point game. You could feel the nervous energy in the stadium as fans from Ireland, New Zealand and elsewhere watched on in awe.
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The All Blacks scored two of the next three tries, but the major talking point became their poor discipline. Aaron Smith was sent to the sin bin late in the first term, and Codie Taylor was shown a yellow as well with about 17 minutes to play.
But the All Blacks didn’t concede. Jordie Barrett pulled off an incredible defensive stop to prevent a near-certain try with the game in the balance – it was destined to come down to the wire.
Ireland built up 37 phases of attack as they looked to break the All Blacks’ defensive line open for what would’ve been the match-winning score with time up on the clock, but it wasn’t to be. Veteran Sam Whitelock was the hero by winning a penalty at the breakdown.
“I actually felt quite calm, to be honest,” Foster said. “They were going with a cut-and-paste attack, doing the same sort of things. We were really patient and they were really efficient with it. It was hard to get your nose in, we were hunting and searching, but we showed patience.
“With Scott McLeod and Joe [Schmidt] helping him, we have been building our system for today and how we want to defend. We are making some strides in that space and I was delighted.
“One mistake and the game could have gone the other way. But you haven’t been to a World Cup if you haven’t had a game like that. I remember the South Africa game [semi-final] in 2015. That is what World Cups are about – you’ve got to roll your sleeves up and trust what you do.”
Comments on RugbyPass
wel the crusaders were beaten by a queensland reds side that hadnt beaten them at home since 1999 and queensland reds partied like it was 1999
4 Go to commentsHard to disagree with the 5 points - with the exception that Wilson should be a squad member but, depending on the other loose forward selections, is not yet a shoo-in. McReight is. Aussie is looking a lot better this year and JS has some selection options. Also, Havili’s tendency to get caught, charged down is also a liability at times but he seemed focused (mostly) and is definitely a consideration for utility back-up. Still feel Reihana is a better prospect at 1st five for Saders.
4 Go to commentsYeah nah, still not sure on Havili tbh. Even though I’m a Crusaders fan through and through I’d be stunned if Razor considers him after seeing some of the stunning talent coming through up North.
4 Go to commentsThink it was a great defensive performance by Northampton. They didn't have stage fright in the first half, the Nienaber defense smothered them. They limited Leinster to 15-3 in the first half. It could have been over by then. A great try from Leinster in the start of the second half looked to have sealed it. But Byrne missed another conversion. Northampton started trying little kicks behind the Leinster wingers. Leinster messed one and Smith brilliantly made the conversion. Leinster decided to tighten the game after Byrne missed a straight forward penalty. A few errors got NH into the 22 and they scored and converted with a few minutes left. Another brilliant steal from Lawes saw NH have a final attack which was turned over by Conan. A classic semi final. World record attendance of 82,300. Leinsters 3 week preparation warranted for this one.
1 Go to commentsJust came back from the game and the atmosphere was amazing. Players stayed afterwards for more than a hour to sign stuff and take photos with fans. Great day out.
5 Go to commentsA great game. The Sharks without Etsebeth are a shadow of the team compared to when he plays. The limitations of Some of the expensive Sharks players are being exposed. Credit to Clermont for some exhilaration play at times.
5 Go to comments100% Mr Owens. But who would want to be a referee.? It must be the most difficult job on earth.
1 Go to commentsStarts to be overdone and oversold this systematic SA narrative…which nevertheless has the merit in this case to recognise blatant refereeing mistakes in their favor
5 Go to commentsNice article. Shades of Steinbeck. They can win the final if they take the game seriously; but only if they take it seriously.
5 Go to commentsWhat a sad way to end a glittering career. Somebody should tell him to delete his social media accounts and face the consequences of what he's done. Then he should slip away quietly into obscurity. This isn't likely to happen, something tells me he'll be back in The Sun / Daily Mail sooner rather than later.
5 Go to commentsguys its fine! he understands why he did what he did and has taken accountability for it; why should he have to be accountable to a court? after all he did was abuse people in person - its not as if he was engaging in _online_ abuse!
5 Go to commentsChiefs flanker Kaylum Boshier yellow-carded for collapsing the scrum as it rolled towards the line. It was a maul….
1 Go to commentsyou know, i’m a leinster fan so I want Northampton to lose and it is gonna be tuff with Cortney lawes, Alex michell and the other guys🏉 lets go leinster🏉
1 Go to commentsWelcome to the Pro ranks. Those hard teams of old do hit the sole better though. its a dog fight at the top.
6 Go to commentsCan someone fill me in please, I've read a number of Ben Smith articles now and it seems he's got something again South Africa? Surely, this game was over and done with 7 months ago. Can't we have something a bit more interesting and relevant, or is this the calibre of journalist on this site?
238 Go to commentsNot sure what the Welsh are moaning about. They’ve had far more players off England, than England have had off Wales. Guys like Josh Hathaway and Kane James will play for Wales in the end. And they’ll be fsr better players for having played in the Gallagher Premiership, than they ever would have been had they stayed mired in the shambles that is Welsh rugby.
4 Go to commentsThis is all being blown totally out of proportion. First of all, since half the Irish team isn’t Irish - it’s very likely that none of the Irish players said that at all and, thus, we’re not being arrogant. Second, since half the Irish team is Kiwi - it’s very likely the Kiwi players were predicting a NZ SA World Cup final. Which they got spot on. Good on them!
163 Go to commentsAha. An Irishman with logic! Follow the flow: - Ireland peaks with a >80% win record between 2020 and 2023. And then… - crashes out of another QF at the WC; - Beat a poor French Team; - Beat 6N wooden spoonists Italy; - Play shite against eventual wooden spoonists Wales; - Lose against the most boring, “the worst English team ever” , a team widely regarded as unable to attack; - scrape through against Scotland. This article, No - Trimble, is on the money! Except for one glaring statement: _The Springboks have a few aces in the hole in this debate being the reigning world champions and official world number ones_ There is no debate, boys and girls. There it is. In black and white. “Reigning World Champions and OFFICIAL world number ones”. Come July, the overrated Andy Farrell and this overhyped team are going to enter into a world of hurt.
90 Go to commentsI’d like to know what homoerotic events Daniel enjoyed at 8th man. I clearly missed out!
20 Go to commentsThis article is missing some detail, like some actual context or info about what led to him abusing the ref.
2 Go to comments