Ian Foster talks true 'value' of Italy win, 'panic' and quarter-final opponent

Soaring to their biggest win of the Rugby World Cup so far, New Zealand have trounced Italy 96-17 in what was described as the team’s “critical” pool game.

The massive margin of victory definitively puts to rest any questions over the extent of the All Blacks‘ slide down international rugby’s power rankings, but only time will tell how the momentum of the win will serve the side if they qualify for the quarter-finals.

The victory itself doesn’t guarantee that quarter-final birth, but a win over Uruguay next weekend in Lyon will see the three-time Webb Ellis Cup lifters reach the knockout stages for the tenth time.

All Blacks head coach Ian Foster was “satisfied” with his team’s win, putting into context the narrative around the victory with the form of the Italian side.

“It was a performance we wanted this week,” he told media following the match. “People create a lot of panic about your chances and all that sort of stuff, particularly after we lost the first one (against France).

“The critical game for us in this pool was always going to be Italy. There was enough evidence to show that if we didn’t perform well and they played as well as they have been performing this year, it was going to be a heck of a tough game. We were good enough to take that away from them.

“We have to do the same next week as the same applies. Do the maths and next week’s also equally important.

“We put ourselves in control of our own destiny and that’s where we want to be and put some pressure on some other teams who have still got some tough games coming up. Look at Ireland. If Scotland win two games then Ireland can miss out. It’s a tough World Cup.”

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A tough World Cup that will only get tougher if the side maintains their position as second in their pool, as that would set up a quarter-final date with the winner of Pool B.

The nature of the scoreline might suggest it was an easy win and therefore not all that beneficial for New Zealand, but Foster insists there was plenty to take away from the match.

“In rugby, you have to deal with the challenges that you’ve got. The trouble is if you win with a big scoreline people believe there is no value in it. The value has been massive for us as we put ourselves under pressure the last 10 days for that performance.

“We knew we had to and we didn’t want to give Italy a chance. We respect them enough that we had to be in the house. What we’ve learned is that if we are really focused on preparation and we get it right and we figure out the challenge in front of us, then we can play good rugby.

“If you look at the South Africa-Ireland game, it was a different game of rugby. The ball was in play for 27 minutes throughout the whole game. It was a very stop-start game, very physical, very combative. You saw a different spectacle tonight and at some point the world has got to decide which game it would rather watch.”

Ireland and South Africa currently occupy the first and second spots in World Rugby’s international rankings respectively. Their Pool B clash was one of the ages that set the standard for all teams to reach if they are to challenge for World Cup glory.

New Zealand has scaled the dizzying heights of World Cup excellence before, but recent form has resulted in speculation that the side doesn’t impose the same intimidation factor or possess the same aura that they once did.

Even worse is speculation that potential quarter-final opponents have a preference of playing the All Blacks in a knockout game over tournament hosts, France.

The coach won’t buy into that rhetoric though, expressing no interest in the quarter-final chat in general.

“I have got no preference about who we play. Those questions early in the pool don’t mean a lot as there are a lot of things that can still happen.

“We don’t spend any time thinking about what might happen. I know that’s a boring answer but that’s the truth. What happens if Scotland go and play two great games and either Ireland or South Africa are not there?

“We’ll do our job, take it one week at a time and find out who it is. You just have to look at the draw and to know that the quarter-finals are going to be huge. We just want to get there. Then we’ll worry about who is there.”