All Blacks gaffer Foster and his coaching ticket have salaries cut again
NZ Herald: All Blacks head coach Ian Foster has revealed he and his management team have taken another pay cut as New Zealand Rugby continue to suffer the impact of the Covid-19 crisis.
Foster, who took a pay cut in March, told Martin Devlin on Newstalk ZB that he and his fellow All Blacks staffers had taken another hit as the wait for the All Blacks to return to the field continues.
“We took an initial pay cut when it first hit the fan and I’ve taken another additional pay cut on top of that too since then – everyone in my management team has done that. We’re hurting like everyone else,” Foster said.
The All Blacks aren’t likely to take the field until at least October, with tentative plans to take on the Wallabies in a four-match Bledisloe Cup series, and although Super Rugby Aotearoa has boosted NZR’s coffers, the organisation is still having to farewell 25 per cent of its workforce.
That has left plenty of revenue-gathering options on the table, including a cross-code clash against the Kangaroos, with Foster pointing out that it will be tricky to play opposition such as the Springboks until domestic rugby is able to be played in South Africa and players are able to build up fitness.
As a result, one potential option could be taking on Pacific Island nations; something Foster confirmed as a possibility, albeit one which still has hurdles to overcome.
“We’ve been talking particularly to Fiji. One of their problems is that a lot of their top players are still tied up in European clubs, and because the European club window is still undecided at the moment, they won’t get released to play internationals until the clubs are really clear about what their windows are. It’s a matter of being fair to the Pacific Islanders and allowing them to find out what they can get their players – but we certainly are very keen to line up and play them.”
Another unique clash on the fixture list is the North v South trial, which will see players be eligible for either the North or South Island side depending on which province they made their first-class debut for.
The ruling proved controversial, with the likes of Northland’s Jack Goodhue and Taranaki’s Scott and Jordie Barrett instead playing for the South Island, having made their provincial debuts for Canterbury, while Christchurch’s Anton Lienert-Brown and Invercargill’s Damian McKenzie will play for the North Island as they both first played for Waikato.
However, Foster explained the reasons for using the provincial side criteria, as opposed to where the player went to high school.
“One of the issues with high schools is you’ve got a real pattern in the last 10 years of people staying in one smaller school, particularly in country schools, and then somehow – through scholarships or whatever it is – suddenly gravitating to bigger schools. It confuses it and it also really slanted it to a very heavy North Island-centric team.
“The rugby landscape is so different from what it was in the past so that’s why we’ve decided to say the first province is where that first step into the professional era is – it rewards that and is probably closer to what is used to be years and years ago.”
This article first appeared in the NZ Herald and is republished here with permission.
Comments on RugbyPass
Why 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!
3 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 …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to comments