'It's been disappointing': All Blacks boss Ian Foster responds to critics
All Blacks head coach Ian Foster has acknowledged the backlash from fans across New Zealand after his side finished its worst season since 2009.
After back-to-back season-ending defeats at the hands of Ireland and France, the All Blacks finished their 2021 campaign with 12 wins and three losses, with the other defeat coming against the Springboks in the final match of the Rugby Championship.
As a result, the Kiwi public have overwhelmingly voiced their opposition against Foster, who signed a two-year contract extension with New Zealand Rugby in August in a deal that will see him stay in charge of the All Blacks until the 2023 World Cup.
Speaking on The Breakdown earlier this week, Foster said that he is aware of his critics and those who have taken aim at his side.
“It’s been disappointing and we kind of know the reaction of our fans and everyone when we don’t get a win. I think in both games we really struggled to get going on in the first half,” he told The Breakdown on Monday.
“If you looked at [Sunday], we enabled a French team to get a lot of early momentum against us. It was an amazing environment; crowd got right behind it and got really passionate, and it became hard to handle after that for a while.”
In spite of the All Blacks’ 40-25 loss to France, their first in Paris since 1973, Foster was impressed by some aspects of his side’s game play.
“The positive thing about last night is that was we came right back into it and I thought, in that third quarter, we really played the way that we really wanted to play against them,” he said.
“We imposed ourselves with our ball carrying, particularly up the middle, and created some opportunities. We just weren’t quite good enough in the end to lock that away.
“We’ve had two teams that have been waiting for us and it’s probably at the end of our season and they were fresh and had really targeted that game. It just showed that they’re good quality teams and we’re going to have to be our best to beat them.”
The former Waikato and Chiefs boss, who served as Sir Steve Hansen’s assistant at the All Blacks between 2012 and 2019, added that the New Zealanders were forced to deal with difficult circumstances during their exhaustive three-month tour.
Due to travel restrictions brought on by Covid-19, the All Blacks spent 12 weeks abroad, during which time they played 10 tests in six countries across three different continents.
At the end of a tumultuous All Blacks campaign, here’s how we rated each of their tests from throughout the 2021 season. #AllBlacks https://t.co/u4quwaI412
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 24, 2021
However, they were mostly confined to their own bubble as a precaution while travelling during the pandemic, and Foster the fatigue of touring under those conditions caught up with the Kiwis in their final two matches against Ireland and France.
“I get the fact that people are upset that we lost two games, and it’s hard to explain the circumstances that we’ve been in,” he said.
“I don’t want to be coming across as if we’re giving excuses for that, but you know this has been a remarkably difficult year in many ways.
“Having 12-13 weeks on the road in hotels and quarantines, we’ve had two lots of five consecutive test matches in a row and we’ve really run out of steam in the last two.
“I think there are some massive positives there, there’s some frustrating negatives, and we’ve got to look at why particularly we didn’t start those last two tests well in those first 20 minutes because we allowed both teams to dictate to us and it made it really hard to wrestle momentum back.”
Despite that, Foster said he remained proud of his squad for persevering through what could have been a difficult time abroad while playing teams that he suggested were considerably bigger threats than they have been in the past.
“Some teams have played not enough rugby. England, Ireland and France haven’t really played anything in that July window. France played Australia but they left a lot of their players behind,” Foster said when asked if the balance of power in world rugby has shifted from the southern hemisphere to the north.
“You’ve got the southern hemisphere teams who have probably ended up playing too much rugby in this Covid and quarantine world.
“If you look at it, Argentina really struggled this year with the amount of travel they had. South Africa ended up losing five tests, Australia lost seven tests and we ended up losing three tests out of 15.
“I don’t believe it’s all doom and gloom. I’m actually really proud of what this group’s done on this tour.
New Zealand Rugby has thrown its support around under-fire All Blacks head coach Ian Foster following a dismal end to his side’s test campaign. #AllBlacks https://t.co/5MV0BGdPZl
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 23, 2021
“It’s been an absolutely unique time. It’s been three months of a largely hotel base, we’ve had a larger squad. We’ve ended up having to rotate our squad more just for the health of the group.
“Short-term that probably hurt a bit. Long-term, I think it’s going to build us some really good depth and options, but, clearly, I think the northern hemisphere teams, in this particular window in 2021, were a lot fresher than the southern hemisphere teams.”
Ultimately, though, Foster is dismissing the criticism coming his way as he prepares for his end-of-year review and aims for more progression in 2022.
“I know everyone bays for blood at times like this. It’s the nature of the job, but our goal is to make sure we’ve got the right plan going forward to do well in the World Cup, ” he told The Breakdown.
“It’s like with the All Blacks, it’s not just about winning the World Cup. In fact, a lot of the criticism coming now is based on you lose a couple of tests and people start to panic a little bit and start to feel that the team is losing their way.
“But, if I look at the bigger picture and think, we’ve won a lot of tests this year, we’re developing a number of players, we’re changing a few things on the park, we’ve been living in a hotel together for three months, then I think we’re going to use the base of what we’ve achieved this year from a team culture and environment to really push through and do well.
“For us and as an All Blacks coach, I’m always accountable, but every test is important, so it’s not just about building for the World Cup, it’s about getting next year right.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Hopefully 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.
3 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 commentsNOW Razor is worried about ABs getting injured or overplayed! Didn’t bother him last year. He happily played his AB Crusaders.
4 Go to commentsWhat is the World Rugby U20 players born year.
2 Go to commentsMuch like the Chiefs finally gave up waiting for Atu Moli to ever not be injured, you have to wonder if the Chiefs and Crusaders will let Josh Lord and Ethan Blackadder go next season. They’re being well paid to sit in the injury ward every year. Better off putting those funds towards someone who might actually play.
7 Go to commentsShowed better basic skills than some nz Super sides, who probably would have botched some of those backline moves. This tournament really is too short though. Needs more teams, or have them play two rounds to properly prepare them for the near full-time NH U20 sides.
4 Go to commentsGood grief it’s only six months. Probably just upset it’s not an established kiwi entering their prime they can “project” into green to join the rest.
1 Go to commentsGood player but far from being best in the world. That's an exaggeration. Perhaps Best in world by Northern Hemisphere standards and biasis but certainly not Southern Hemi standards
3 Go to commentsWell one thing about World Cup knock out rounds and Ireland is very clear: they won’t be getting ahead of themselves in ‘27! Because making it beyond the QF is well and truly ‘IN THEIR HEADS’ now…😉
77 Go to commentsHas this guy been dope tested? Sounds like a case of “roid rage”.
1 Go to commentsI would like to see him say that to Eben face to face in a dark alley.
77 Go to commentsYep, lost in translation. There are arrogant people in Ireland, yes. As there are arrogant people in every country, but as a nation, arrogance is not a general characteristic in Ireland. There has not really had a strong representation for any global sport over the years, and hence arrogance is not endemic to Irish people in this regard. I seriously doubt that was said or meant by 12 or 13 players. If it was said, it would have been said in jest and to pay Etzebeth and the Springboks a compliment for how hard fought the game was.
77 Go to commentsOne of the few Bidwell articles I can agree with. If coaches played their players through niggles and consistently played them 80mins then you could make an argument for resting protocols - they obviously don’t and are incredibly responsible, let’s give up the resting nonsense and let the boys play.
4 Go to commentsDaniel Gallan, please for the love of all that is holy, stop writing about rugby. Or at the very least stop telling people you are South African.
21 Go to commentsThis Dr.Rassie 6-2 filth is spreading. We need to ask World Rugby to ban something
1 Go to commentsPity he couldn’t call him a liar to his face, such a brave man.
77 Go to comments“You ain’t counting to 12 or 13 straight after a game, son!” Just because you don’t doesn’t mean everyone else doesn’t “I reckon if anyone said it they would have said, ‘Hopefully, see you in the final’.” Oh, you “reckon”, do you? You weren’t there, you weren’t part of the conversation but you know what was said… Id10T
77 Go to commentsNZ has such a rich history of quality number nines, and woman beaters.
1 Go to commentsThat’s what happens when you are scared of scrums
3 Go to comments