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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.
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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.
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
22
30
First try wins
40%
Home team wins
40%
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“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.”
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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.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Just came back from the game and the atmosphere was amazing. Players stayed afterwards for more than a hour to sign stuff and take photos with fans. Great day out.
5 Go to commentsA great game. The Sharks without Etsebeth are a shadow of the team compared to when he plays. The limitations of Some of the expensive Sharks players are being exposed. Credit to Clermont for some exhilaration play at times.
5 Go to comments100% Mr Owens. But who would want to be a referee.? It must be the most difficult job on earth.
1 Go to commentsStarts to be overdone and oversold this systematic SA narrative…which nevertheless has the merit in this case to recognise blatant refereeing mistakes in their favor
5 Go to commentsNice article. Shades of Steinbeck. They can win the final if they take the game seriously; but only if they take it seriously.
5 Go to commentsWhat a sad way to end a glittering career. Somebody should tell him to delete his social media accounts and face the consequences of what he's done. Then he should slip away quietly into obscurity. This isn't likely to happen, something tells me he'll be back in The Sun / Daily Mail sooner rather than later.
3 Go to commentsguys its fine! he understands why he did what he did and has taken accountability for it; why should he have to be accountable to a court? after all he did was abuse people in person - its not as if he was engaging in _online_ abuse!
3 Go to commentsChiefs flanker Kaylum Boshier yellow-carded for collapsing the scrum as it rolled towards the line. It was a maul….
1 Go to commentsyou know, i’m a leinster fan so I want Northampton to lose and it is gonna be tuff with Cortney lawes, Alex michell and the other guys🏉 lets go leinster🏉
1 Go to commentsWelcome to the Pro ranks. Those hard teams of old do hit the sole better though. its a dog fight at the top.
6 Go to commentsCan someone fill me in please, I've read a number of Ben Smith articles now and it seems he's got something again South Africa? Surely, this game was over and done with 7 months ago. Can't we have something a bit more interesting and relevant, or is this the calibre of journalist on this site?
228 Go to commentsNot sure what the Welsh are moaning about. They’ve had far more players off England, than England have had off Wales. Guys like Josh Hathaway and Kane James will play for Wales in the end. And they’ll be fsr better players for having played in the Gallagher Premiership, than they ever would have been had they stayed mired in the shambles that is Welsh rugby.
4 Go to commentsThis is all being blown totally out of proportion. First of all, since half the Irish team isn’t Irish - it’s very likely that none of the Irish players said that at all and, thus, we’re not being arrogant. Second, since half the Irish team is Kiwi - it’s very likely the Kiwi players were predicting a NZ SA World Cup final. Which they got spot on. Good on them!
163 Go to commentsAha. An Irishman with logic! Follow the flow: - Ireland peaks with a >80% win record between 2020 and 2023. And then… - crashes out of another QF at the WC; - Beat a poor French Team; - Beat 6N wooden spoonists Italy; - Play shite against eventual wooden spoonists Wales; - Lose against the most boring, “the worst English team ever” , a team widely regarded as unable to attack; - scrape through against Scotland. This article, No - Trimble, is on the money! Except for one glaring statement: _The Springboks have a few aces in the hole in this debate being the reigning world champions and official world number ones_ There is no debate, boys and girls. There it is. In black and white. “Reigning World Champions and OFFICIAL world number ones”. Come July, the overrated Andy Farrell and this overhyped team are going to enter into a world of hurt.
90 Go to commentsI’d like to know what homoerotic events Daniel enjoyed at 8th man. I clearly missed out!
19 Go to commentsThis article is missing some detail, like some actual context or info about what led to him abusing the ref.
2 Go to comments*They used to say that football is a gentleman sport watched by hooligans and rugby is a hooligan sport watched by gentlemen. How times have changed.*
3 Go to commentsexcept ot wasnt late wasnt late at all so dont know why you all saying its late he commits early and its your fault fir not paying attention
30 Go to commentsNot sure the Bulls need another average utility back in their ranks. Chamberlain has been ok for the Sharks but is by no means an X-Factor player. Bulls bought several utility backs which they barely use. A typical example would be Henry Immelman who plays mostly Fullback. The Bulls however have rarely played him this year and he has played wing or centre. Bulls want to build depth but seems like they have too many surplus players
1 Go to commentsABs lost against a side playing without a hooker - The guy playing, had one shoulder. Line outs were a gimme for the ABs, and the last 8 minutes 14 played 14 against a team that had been smashed 3 weeks in a row… Yet with all that possession, with all that territory, with all the advantages they actually had, especially in the last 8 minutes, they couldn’t buy a point. Those last 8 minutes determined if they outplayed the Boks or not. History will show that the Boks completely outplayed the ABs, especially in those last 8 minutes, the business end of any rugby match
228 Go to comments