Ian Foster full of belief as All Blacks prepare to upset Ireland

Coach Ian Foster truly believes the All Blacks will upset Ireland this weekend. You could see the confidence in Foster’s eyes as the coach sat down in front of reporters at Stade de France on Friday.

There was no sense of fragility or nervousness in his voice either, and the so-called fear of failure that’s been asked of the All Blacks by reporters this week was nowhere to be found.

Ireland come into this Test on the back of an impressive 17-Test unbeaten streak, and of course, they beat the All Blacks in New Zealand twice last year to claim a historic series win. They deserve to be favourites.

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The Big Jim Show Live – RWC Semi Finals

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But the All Blacks have put in the work and coach Foster just wants his players to back themselves against the world’s top-ranked side in a mammoth quarter-final in front of a sold-out crowd.

“I think the work that they’ve done. I think the work that we’ve put in the last month, the last three or four months really,” Foster told reporters.

“We’ve always known when you come to this World Cup that, assuming we did the business in the pool play, it was most likely going to be Ireland or South Africa so either way you’ve got a monster quarter-final.

“It’s not like this is a surprise. We’ve mentally been ready for it, we mentally know that we have to prepare a week at a time and I think we’ve been getting a lot better at doing that.

Head-to-Head

Last 5 Meetings

Wins

2

Draws

0

Wins

3

Average Points scored

21

22

First try wins

60%

Home team wins

0%

“I have full belief in this group. We know that tomorrow there’s going to be, if you look at the quarterfinals there’s going to be four quality teams that won’t be there in the semi-finals and we’re pretty determined that we’re not going to be one of them.

“The only way you go into these games is believing in your game and who you are and we do.”

As hours continue to tick by ahead of the most highly anticipated quarterfinals in Rugby World Cup history, the anticipation continues to build at a rapid pace for all four games.

But this clash between New Zealand and Ireland has an added flavour to it. There isn’t just a semi-final spot on the line but rather national bragging rights years in the making.

The All Blacks are still hurting from that disastrous series defeat last year, with Beauden Barrett telling NZR+ that “it’s not like someone’s died but it’s probably the next worst thing.”

Meanwhile, there are thousands of Irish supporters ready to sing Zombie as loud as they possibly can at the Parisian venue. It’s win or go home for both teams.

This is rugby at its very best.

“We’ve got to nail things that we’ve been growing in our game,” Foster mentioned.

“Rugby is a simple game in playoffs, it’s about control through your set-piece, it’s about having the confidence to execute your game plan and not tighten up and the discipline side – How to control yourself when the pressure’s on.

“That’s three things I’d give you. But big games are always about that and we know that. We have got to be at our best.”