NZR boss Robinson breaks silence and sparks confusion over Foster

New Zealand Rugby boss Mark Robinson has broken his silence on the messy post-Ireland Test series loss fallout – but he tellingly refused to back the position of Ian Foster as All Blacks head coach beyond the upcoming two-game series away to the Springboks.   

Robinson has been subject to stinging criticism in the fallout since the series-deciding loss in Wellington a fortnight ago, with a reshuffle of the Foster assistants following by personal attacks from ex-All Blacks boss Steve Hansen and former NZR CEO David Moffett, the latter claiming he should fly home from the Commonwealth Games in Britain and write his resignation letter.

The NZR boss insisted he would be doing no such thing, having finally broken cover and fronted up in an extensive interview with Newstalk ZB’s Jason Pine. First things first though, his curious comments about the status of Foster, the All Blacks coach with a contract through to the 2023 World Cup finals who has flown out to South Africa with his squad for the back-to-back Rugby Championship matches in Nelspruit and Johannesburg.    

“As we have signalled he [Foster] is certainly the person to lead the team to South Africa and we are making sure that we have got everything possible in the way of resourcing and support to make sure that is successful,” he said before getting asked what might happen if the All Blacks losing streak of four losses in five became six losses in seven.   

“I’m not going to speculate on things like that. We are really focused and have spent time in the last ten days primarily around focusing on our people internally when the sorts of things that have been going on with the speculation, and then making sure the team and then the management team have what they need to succeed.”

Here is what Robinson has to say about other hot topics, beginning with this week’s claims by Crusaders boss Scott Robertson on The Big Jim Show that he was open to offers from rival countries. “We certainly understand the sentiment of our fans, that has been coming through loud and clear. We know Razor has a huge amount to offer the game in New Zealand in the future and we’ve obviously got a contract with him around that. Commenting any further on that wouldn’t be appropriate.”

On Hansen: “He is someone I have known for a long time and I know he is passionate about the game and New Zealand. He has made a great contribution to it. I have certainly reached out to him and we will have a catch-up at some stage. He said some things that I wouldn’t agree with and we will have that conversation. I know he is also incredibly protective of Ian and he is protecting his mate too – and we all understand that.

On Silver Lake: “Regarding the players’ thing [their relationship with NZR], we are working really hard and really well at the moment in that space around things in general, but also with regards to a new partner coming on with Silver Lake. There is no question it went through some challenging times throughout working through bringing an investment partner on but in our minds, we’re well through that. 

“The interaction we’re having with Rob (Nichol, the Players’ Association boss) and his team is really constructive and positive. Certainly, the way all the players and all of our camps engage with our teams and our partners also in the work that they do is really positive.”

On Moffett: “The organisation is on a really exciting and solid path at the moment. We have come through covid and obviously some other things around more recently with the disappointment with the series that we have had to contend with but behind the scenes, we are involved in some really exciting, constructive and positive stuff that can transform our game for the future.

“I’m really committed to that, I’m really privileged to be in the role, I love the role and being part of what we’re building at New Zealand Rugby in a really strong team. I came into the role knowing that eventually there would be situations like this where people have strong views around things like that. You have to learn to accept that, don’t you? It’s no different than any of the key public leadership roles in New Zealand.”