'Baroque stupidity': All Blacks and Foster ripped apart by ex-Irish international in savage review

Former Irish international Neil Francis has taken aim at All Blacks head coach Ian Foster, his captain Sam Cane, and even the inexperience of Leicester Fainga’anuku in the wake of Ireland’s 23-12 win in the second test.

Francis did not hold back as he savaged the All Blacks leadership in his piece for The Times, going as far as labelling Foster ‘a clown’ for selecting the young Crusaders wing who he described as ‘out of his depth’ against Ireland.

The confusion around the substitution of Ardie Savea also drew the focus of Francis, who blamed the All Blacks head coach for the mismanagement of the situation which saw the side lose their best forward for most of the night.

All Blacks captain Sam Cane interview

All Blacks captain Sam Cane interview

“The baroque stupidity of Foster’s decisions on and off the park are a testament to what happened on the field,” Francis wrote for The Times.

“He made the huge mistake of taking off his best forward, Ardie Savea. It is not [Jaco] Peyper’s fault that Foster does not know the rules governing replacements.

“For New Zealand, the malaise was palpable. Their back line on the day couldn’t run a bath.”

The former 36-test international boldly predicted that this series could be the end for captain Sam Cane, who he expected to fall on his sword should Ireland claim victory in the third and final test.

“Sam Cane has been bang average for years and this could be his final series,” Francis said.

It was on defence where he felt the All Blacks management had made a grave selection error with left winger Fainga’anuku who was playing in his second test after debuting the week before at Eden Park.

Francis questioned whether the 22-year-old could defend at this level and highlighted his substitution in the 50th minute as evidence that they had made a mistake in selecting him.

“Fainga’anuku had no idea what to do and was lost at sea as Ireland broke down the right wing… Can he defend? Well, that is the coach’s job to know,” he wrote.

“Maybe in a much tighter match it would be enlightening to know whether your left wing knows not just how to tackle but to read the game defensively.

“The poor kid was hauled off directly after Ireland scored.

“Whose fault was it that he was out of his depth? Foster is a clown.”

Francis predicted that the two teams would meet next year at the World Cup in the quarter-finals again but lamented the fact that former Ireland coach Joe Schmidt could be in charge by then.

“If New Zealand lose next week Foster is gone and [Joe] Schmidt is in, which is a pity because we will meet New Zealand in the quarter-finals again in France and I was rather hoping that Foster would still be bumbling along in charge.”