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‘It would mean a lot’: Coach Foster on the All Blacks’ 'goal' of World Cup glory
The All Blacks are always among the favourites whenever there’s a Rugby World Cup. They’re there to win, and anything less is seen as a catastrophic failure in the eyes of fans from a rugby-mad nation.
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New Zealand, and the rugby world as a whole, saw a glimpse of what it means to lose big Test matches as an All Black during last year’s disastrous series defeat to Ireland.
After opening their international season with a convincing win over Andy Farrell’s men at Eden Park, the All Blacks fell to back-to-back losses. History was made, and it didn’t come down to the luck of the Irish either.
The All Blacks were beaten, badly too, as they fell to their fourth loss in five Tests. Test veteran Beauden Barrett summed it up perfectly.
“It’s not like someone’s died but it’s probably the next worst thing,” Barrett said on the NZR+ docuseries All Blacks: In Their Own Words. “It’s not easy but it’s not supposed to be either.”
The All Blacks were hurting, and so were New Zealand. It’s a glimpse into the high-performance culture of the world-famous rugby team.
While there’s always pressure on the All Blacks, the bar is raised even higher every four years.
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New Zealand rugby fans expect the All Blacks to hoist the Webb Ellis Cup in triumph. Otherwise, as legendary Wallaby George Gregan so famously said, they’ll have to wait “four more years.”
It’s not an easy four years, either. The semi-final defeat to England at the 2019 Rugby World Cup is still a talking point for the All Blacks.
In the leadup to the All Blacks’ highly anticipated clash with the Springboks in London, coach Ian Foster reflected on the All Blacks’ unwavering “goal” to win it all in France.
“It would mean a lot to us to win the World Cup, that’s our goal,” Foster told reporters. “We’re not trying to think much beyond that to be fair.
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“We know how tough it’s going to be. For us we’ve got our clear goals, clear objectives. We want to be positioned well going into that first game against France and after that, we’ll just wait and see.
“So many teams are going in to win it, and that’s what we want to achieve.
“For New Zealand Rugby, for the public and everything, it will mean a lot. But there’s a bit of water going under the bridge first.”
The All Blacks play fierce rivals South Africa on Friday night in their final warm-up Test before the Rugby World Cup.
In just over two weeks’ time, the All Blacks will open their World Cup campaign against tournament hosts France in Paris.
Comments on RugbyPass
Karl Dixon should never have been appointed this fixture, absolute disgrace, He’s not much of a referee anyway, didn't have the balls to send his mate care off
5 Go to commentsBrilliant article! Harry of 8/9
1 Go to comments‘UK athletes' have been in the NFL from the start.
1 Go to commentsIt’s going to be Scott Barrett. He’s the coaches mate and captain of a previously elite team. Ardie a great option but scooter has worked with the coach and Ardie still as big a leader as needed.
23 Go to commentsI commend Colin Scotts bio All Balls. He was the first Aussie to make it to NFL. But he was poached and did a full apprenticeship at the University of Hawaii. He was 130kgs surfed played 1st grade cricket etc. big guy by normal but not NFL standards and a top athlete. Even then the nfl were picking up Tongans and Samoans for their natural size and explosive power. They want explosive power not cardio from the big boys so a guy like Taniela Tupou would have been good if picked up young enough. He has fast twitch and they’d bulk the little lad up and give him something to do. soccer teams set up academies and look for Over Sara’s talent eg Messi was at Barcelona since a teenager and harry kewell went to Leeds as a teenager like 16 or something.
11 Go to commentsThe article alludes to the fact that this isn’t about picking a captain. But picking a great captain. So who would make for a great All Black captain - not just an obvious or safe shoo-in? I’m not sure Ardie’s the guy and Barret doesn’t stand out either.
23 Go to commentsI guess we may all agree on the fact, that the ABs and Boks are the two in contest for No 1 in rugby history (the triple-A sort of) …. the Wallabies, England and France are the next tier, with Ireland being the new kid in town (AA) …. in my view it makes little sense creating imaginary competitions (unless you have too much time to waste)
45 Go to commentsWhat a joke. Total joke and the pundits commentating, all of whom know a bit about the game, could barely disguise their contempt. Reaching for the card then pulling back when he realised a red card would carry further match suspensions is simply not his decision to make. A clear and obvious influence on the outcome of this match and indeed, the championship path.
5 Go to commentsI like the idea, in NZ the Ranfurly Shield and NPC coexist, both having their own bragging rights. The World Cup would be the pinnacle, but the competition and travels of these trophies would be interesting.
45 Go to commentsDon’t worry Sonny bill Williams leave that awkward situation about the curfew in the pass whoever it was it doesn’t matter its no big deal we back our All Blacks through the storm and the thunder until we see the Sun light again.
42 Go to commentsWho listens to this retard? He was a massive liability as a player but obviously a media sensation
42 Go to commentsI’m not surprised by such ‘virtue signalling’ by Sonny Boy. Butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. He’s such a pious Islamic muppet, imo.
42 Go to commentsI’ve actually never heard of the guy (then I don’t watch League as it is boring). But if he is good enough.. then good luck to him. If not, well, he can always return to league.
2 Go to commentsIt is pretty clear that by almost any measure that NZ are a more successful rugby nation than South Africa. Quite aside from the distasteful events during the last RWC final. NZ lead SA in all significant measurements.
45 Go to commentsDickson went to his pocket for a card, saw who it was, changed his mind and spoke at length to TMO. One angle clearly shows Care diving over a Saints player to kill the ball. 1st yellow, reason given for not Red was player was falling backwards. He was only falling backwards after contact with Lawes. Graham try should have stood. Mitchell did not have both hands on the ball, ball went forward from a Saints boot dragging over it. 2 intentional knock-on's. One of which had an overlap on the outside. If Quins are happy to win by intentional foul play, then it does not say much for them. Would appear to be a bad day for Karl Dickson, also for the RFU in appointing a Ref who spent 8 years as a player at one of the clubs.
5 Go to commentsLet’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
8 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
2 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
8 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
4 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
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