Ian Foster's verdict on Shaun Stevenson missing selection

One of the standouts of the 2023 Super Rugby Pacific season, Shaun Stevenson has been knocking on the door for higher honours and faced his greatest opportunity yet in the All Blacks‘ Rugby Championship opener against Los Pumas, but ultimately missed out on the 23.

Beauden Barrett has been selected at fullback with Caleb Clarke and Emoni Narawa on the wings while Richie Mo’unga and Braydon Ennor make up the bench in the match, leaving Stevenson on the outside looking in.

Barrett has struggled to find his world-class form in 2023 and some pundits began pondering whether the door was open for an in-form Stevenson to get a shot at the next level.

While Foster denied Stevenson that opportunity this week, the coach made it clear that his selection policy accommodates further opportunities throughout The Rugby Championship.

“He featured in discussion and we decided to go somewhere else,” Foster told reporters in Mendoza.

“I’ve been impressed with Shaun since he’s come in. Sometimes it’s good for people to come in and get a feel for the space and to learn.

“I think he’s doing everything we’re asking from him and that’s all we can really ask of all our squad members; to really enjoy being here and train hard and he’s done that and he’s done everything we’ve asked of him so did he feature in the conversation? Yes, he did.”

Foster went on to clarify his priorities during the campaign, emphasising the importance of building combinations but also finding time for debutants to make their mark as potential World Cup bolters.

“That’s the balance, isn’t it? I’ve been saying this a lot, we need to build our combinations, that’s our primary focus going through this campaign but you ask how hard it’s going to be (for the rookies to get minutes). Well, it wasn’t that hard for Emoni (Narawa), he’s come in pretty early, in the first Test. We’ve got Josh Lord coming back, Damian McKenzie who hasn’t played for us in over a year.

“I think we’ve shown that if we feel people are ready then we’re going to give them the opportunity but we’re not going to do it in a way that chucks them all in one Test together and perhaps exposes them too much. So, we’re pretty happy with the strategy but it’s a tough balance.”