'He'd be a very good chance to be the next head coach': Eddie Jones reveals who he's backing to become next All Blacks boss
England head coach Eddie Jones has thrown his support behind All Blacks assistant coach Ian Foster to become New Zealand’s next head coach.
Foster is seemingly in a two-horse race with Crusaders boss Scott Robertson to become Steve Hansen’s successor as head coach of the All Blacks, who stepped down from the position following his side’s World Cup semi-final exit in Japan last month.
Foster had been part of Hansen’s coaching staff since the latter took over from Sir Graham Henry in 2012, and assisted the All Blacks to their third World Cup title in the United Kingdom four years ago.
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However, his side were out-thought and out-muscled when they faced England in the semi-finals this year, with Hansen’s side barely firing a shot as they went down 19-7 to Jones’ team at the Yokohama International Stadium.
Nevertheless, Jones believe that Foster’s contribution to the All Blacks set-up since first coming into the national side seven years ago warrants serious consideration as the fight to become the next boss of rugby’s most successful international team heats up.
“They made the semi-final and got beaten by a better team on the day,” the Australian-born 59-year-old told SNTV.
“You look at their record over the years with ‘Fozzy’ as an assistant coach, it’s pretty impressive.
“There’s no other team in the world that’s won… whether it was 88 percent or 87 percent. No other team in the world wins at that [percentage].
“Although the semi-final was disappointing for them, Ian’s done a great job as an assistant coach and I would think he’d be a very good chance to be the next head coach.”
Aaron Smith has spilt the beans on the @AllBlacks' decision-making process.https://t.co/9LjkjQ3Szf
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 28, 2019
Jones also reserved praise for New Zealand-born Glasgow Warriors head coach Dave Rennie, who was recently announced as Michael Cheika’s replacement at the Wallabies.
Plenty of onlookers were adamant that Jones should have been made the new Australia boss following the Wallabies’ World Cup quarter-final departure after being thumped 40-16 by England in Oita.
Jones coached the Wallabies between 2001 and 2005, but is tied down with England until 2021, making a return to his homeland implausible.
However, he believed Australia have found the right man to take them through to the 2023 World Cup in France.
“Outstanding. He’s a very good coach, good man and good rugby man,” he said on SNTV.
“Very good tactically, good at bringing people together and I think he’ll resurrect Australian rugby.”
In other news:
Comments on RugbyPass
As long as New Zealand youth are involved in sport they are passionate for, and are well supported, it’s all good. I love league as well as rugby. NRL clubs have long since scouted the First 15 competitions, the NH and Japan scout super rugby and NPC. It’s a miracle there’s any players left for the all blacks to pick from.
4 Go to commentsI'm a Bok fan, so I don't say this lightly, but he is one of my all time favourite players. I am really going to miss watching him play. Thanks for many great memories. You are a true legend of the game.
3 Go to commentsBest way to deal with all of this is to play another game.
120 Go to commentsIt’s 12-15 games Luke. Ringrose has barely played in 2024 and Henshaw and Keenan have also been out for spells in the same time period. There are always injuries and for younger players to play with the likes of Barrett will be great for them. It’s just looking for negatives where there are none.
5 Go to commentsAndy Goode pushing his own agenda with very dubious considerations on refereeing performances. Luke Pearce speaking a bit of French doesn’t make him a good and adequate referee for the Champions Cup final; his latest refereeing performance in particular was not so great.
4 Go to commentsJordie knows that he has to earn the right to put on the jersey, whatever that jersey might be.
5 Go to commentsThe best outside centre in the world at one point. He will be greatly missed.
3 Go to commentsYip his great for the big moments when needed as a safa really enjoy watching him
4 Go to commentsOne that will start to come up from now on is penalties for back pushes during kick chase scrambles. Very difficult to detect. In Croke Park if you replay the Hendy NH try, you will see Furbank push Porter in the back, who collides with Larmour knocking the ball across into Hendy’s path to dot down. A more significant example was in the RWC QTR final where Arendse pushes Fickou into two other French players for the ball to spill into Arendse’s path for him to gather and run in to score SAs first try. Not cheating if you are not caught and very difficult to spot but with kicking becoming so critical I feel its an area that will referreeed/TMO-ed more.
4 Go to commentsWhat a pathetic little twit Andy Goode is, as if we care what he thinks…..😂
120 Go to commentsFoxy has been a wonderful player for the Scarlets and Wales.
3 Go to commentsNika the Georgian is the best referee in the world at the moment. Luckily we will be spared the shite SH refs and Barnes will hopefully remain retired given how shite and embarrassing he was at the RWC.
4 Go to commentsThis is the most exciting game of the summer imo, as we really won’t know in advance how both teams are going to play. - Will Robertson just reproduce his Crusaders tactics from last year, or will there be a conscious effort to borrow from the Hurricanes and Blues, and from the aspects of the ABs world cup strategy that worked well? - England under Borthwick have put in some good performances playing attacking rugby, and some good performances playing kick-oriented defensive rugby. Will Borthwick try to merge them together into a single all-court game, or will he continue switching between different approaches depending on the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition?
1 Go to commentsI’m predicting an aggregate points difference of no more than +/-10pts across both matches this series.
1 Go to commentsI’m predicting an aggregate points difference of no more than +/-10pts across both matches this series.
9 Go to commentsFinals are always tense affairs for the players so I do not expect this to be a spectacle of running rugby unfortunately.
4 Go to commentsBulls***': Ex-England international calls out Eben Etzebeth… Not to his face but from very far away… after he’d left. Checked to make sure he wasn’t in the building.
120 Go to commentsHopefully this will mean a new Auckland league team to support in the west. Big Warriors fan but it’s very, very stale on that front and I’d like the option of another team if it was to watch league again. League needs to step up BIG time if its to get anywhere, another AK team and something from the capitol or south is a must for the game.
4 Go to commentsGood, deep interview, nice job Frankie!
1 Go to commentsNRL players don’t have anywhere near the number of Tests. Some people would be happy having Rest Homes full if 40 yo ex-players walking, or hobbling more like it, into walls. It’s just a game!
4 Go to comments