'They are imposters': South African media pile on All Blacks after 'scapegoat' decision
The shockwaves of New Zealand Rugby’s decision to keep head coach Ian Foster on while letting go of two of his assistants have reached as far as South Africa, where media pundits have not shied away from critiquing the situation.
The All Blacks have been labelled ‘imposters’ and ‘fragile’ after their historic 2-1 series loss to Ireland at home, while their subsequent decision to let the assistant coaches go has drawn criticism for using ‘scapegoats’ to cover for their head coach.
South African scribe Mark Keohane called the side ‘the worst coached and selected’ All Blacks team since the dawn of the professional era who are lacking a quality head coach.
“But as good as the Irish played, this is the worst coached and selected All Blacks match-day squads I have reported on since the game turned professional in 1996. They are imposters,” Keohane wrote for Keo.co.za following the Irish series.
“I felt Wales had the toughest assignment of the northern hemisphere teams and Ireland had the easiest, given who they actually played and not being seduced by the history of who they were playing. When I say easiest, not to be misinterpreted as easy.
“Historically, there is no tougher assignment than the All Blacks in New Zealand but in the context of the current fragility of the men in black and the substandard pedigree of their head coach Ian Foster, this was a series out of kilter with the quality of what the All Blacks have traditionally produced at home.”
The statistics support Keohane’s assertions with the All Blacks losing back-to-back games for the third time under Foster, and the first time at home.
Foster sports a 67 per cent win rate as All Blacks head coach, which is the lowest since the game went professional in 1996 and below that of Laurie Mains (67.2 per cent) who coached the team at the 1995 World Cup.
Aside from the win-loss ratio, records have continued to tumble since 2020 when Foster’s coaching set-up took over the team, such as losing to Argentina for the first time in history.
Writing a column for Supersport, writer Brendan Nel said that the axing of Brad Mooar and John Plumtree “made them the scapegoats of the recent series loss to Ireland.”
“While head coach Ian Foster has kept his job – against public opinion and on the background of some of the worst media management after the loss that the country had seen – Plumtree and Moar have been made the culprits for the All Blacks not fronting up to the Irish forwards,” he wrote.
Nel theorised that the appointment of Crusaders’ forwards coach Jason Ryan is a direct move to counter the Springboks strength at scrum and maul, as the former Fiji forwards coach has specialty in that area.
The Crusaders impeccable maul defence highlighted the difference that Ryan could make to the All Blacks, however he said the rushed appointment looked ‘a bit desperate’.
“Ryan is no stranger to top flight rugby and has a record with the Crusaders that some have boasted has not let in a rolling maul try in five years,” he wrote.
“While that may be a bit skewed by the fact the last three seasons have seen no South African participation since the NZ Rugby Union pulled the plug on Super Rugby, Ryan is seen as a specialist when it comes to rolling mauls.
“But in bringing in Ryan and sacking Plumtree the All Blacks look a bit desperate, and it will be interesting to see what he can bring in two weeks before the Boks face the men in black in Mbombela.”
Ahead of the revamped Rugby Championship, Jon Cardinelli of The Daily Maverick highlighted that the Springboks have a chance to emulate the deeds of the 2009 Springboks with a two-match series at home against the All Blacks.
The change in the home-away format has afforded South Africa the best opportunity ‘in more than a decade’ to win a full Rugby Championship title, with their last one coming in the truncated version in 2019 with one win each over Australia and Argentina.
“The fact that these matches will be staged in South Africa — and that the All Blacks rather than the Boks will be forced to traverse the Indian Ocean — shouldn’t be taken for granted,” he wrote.
“The Boks still have a lot to prove and the All Blacks — who have a good record in South Africa — should not be written off. The tour to Australia will be challenging for a Bok team that hasn’t won an away Test against the Wallabies since 2013.
“But thanks to the changes to the format, the Boks will enjoy their best opportunity to succeed in more than a decade.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Great role model.
2 Go to commentsOne significant tell, not a single Waratahs player stopped to whinge to the ref about Finau’s tackle. They got on with playing the game. Great tackle.
8 Go to commentsWouldn’t be a bad move if Ireland pulled into SA with a young side. Particularly in Pretoria. Invaluable experience getting thumped in the bosveld.
54 Go to commentsIreland. The Princess Diana of Rugby. I never cheered so much for a team as i did for the All Blacks in that QF.
54 Go to commentsWill be great to see the Leinster first XV back in action again after their cotton wool time…
1 Go to commentsLooked up Grant Constable on google and reply was doppelgänger for Ben Smith
54 Go to commentsIt is so good that we now all get excited and debate who is best and emotionally get involved. We all back our teams which is great. Up until about 15-20 years ago, NZ was basically on its own, and then Saffa, Aussie and sometimes French and English were there. We now have at least 5-6 really top sides and another 4 who keep improving. This is so healthy. So we should not resort to rubbish comments and unhealthy debate, but rather all be chuffed that the product we watch is not competitive, exciting and often uncertain. It would be so good if World Rugger could find a way to align the rules to professional players as well as spectators. Live rugby games are SO boring as there is SO much down time as we wait for refs and TMOs and whoever else to look at every small event going back endless phases with the hope of eventually find a minute infringement to then decide cancel what was a wonderful try. This is the ultimate cork back in the bottle moment and feels like every balloon is always being popped. Come on- we must be better with the rules.
54 Go to comments“upon leaving said establishment I tripped over a stool knocking some bottles into the air and as I fell I accidently dislodged a police officer’s teaser who was passing by on an unrelated matter there by landing on said taser which caused it to discharge 50,000 watts into me. Out of shock I shouted Ireland are going to win the world cup. Upon waking up I apologised for the distress caused by my Ireland comment. The matter is closed. If you wish to pursue this matter may I remind you what I told Wayne Barnes when he sent me off. I AM A BIG ASS MAN”. Or was it “I AM A BIG ASS, MAN” or was it “I AM A BIG ASSMAN”?
2 Go to commentsThe only championship the Boks hold are: Great value for the incompetence of referees during the RWC Moaning endlessly and champions of spewing utterly ignorant 💩 at all times. Displaying the dangers of a third world education End of.
54 Go to commentsSouth Africa and Rassie do a phenomenal job of treating the 4 years in between World Cups as nothing more than a training exercise to build squad depth. The Six Nations money that keeps Irish rugby afloat is unfortunately too important to allow the same approach, and basic population size means we'll never get close to matching the depth of South Africa, England and France. That being said, Irish rugby is in a relatively good place and slowly improving inch by inch. If the other three provinces can pull the finger out and actually develop some players it'd be even better.
54 Go to commentsGood on Clarke for taking on the criticism and addressing his deficiencies, principally his laziness.
2 Go to comments“It is the people’s favourite against the actual favourite. It is the people’s champions against the actual champions. I’m joking, but it’s going to be a fantastic series.” Why did Darcy make that joke knowing it would be used as click bait? Why did RP headline it as a serious comment? Anyway, the tired comment isn’t very astute. SA players may have played more games etc. Darcy over estimated as a pundit.
54 Go to commentsNot sure Frisch will ever make the French team with Depoortère and Costes waiting in the wings to take over from Danty and Fickou.
1 Go to commentsThe Irish are tired and the Boks are old. The test series won't confirm who is best in the world, it will confirm which team needs to pursue the task of rebuilding with the most urgency.
54 Go to commentsGrant, the first time I have seen an article written by you. Maybe I have missed your previous stuff. These days all professional players effectively play a common season so all top players are equally tired, or rested. That is the job of the coaching ticket to build squad depth and juggle resources so players are ‘ fresh’ when the big games come. Possibly Ireland are less inclined to juggle squad compared to Rassie, who is prepared to take the risk to rest players as well as build depth throughout the year so come WC he has a full squad, experienced and rested enough to win 7 games. After all, to win WC you need to get through the tournament and then win the final big 3 games. Ireland should try and build a bit so come final 3 they are ready. So far only played final 1(QF). I am so looking forward to the Irish tour. Hopefully Rassie has enough time to align his guys, as he draws them from across the globe, and not from 2 sides locally( eg Leinster, Munster). No excuses, going to be exciting.
54 Go to commentsIn football, teams get fined and sometimes docked points for deliberately fielding weakened teams yet Leinster can pretty much do as they please with no comebacks. Could it be because Ireland run the URC? Could it be that Ireland run the ERC? Whichever it is, it stinks!!
6 Go to commentsIreland are only the People’s Champions in Irish eyes. The rest of the world do not care for them very much because of attitudes of people like Gordon, Ferris, Best, Jackman…I could go on!!
54 Go to commentsNot sure how Karl Dickson can ever ref a Quins game, he played for the club for 8 years as understudy to Care and is still close friends with half the team
3 Go to commentsAre bookies taking bets on how many times Vunipola's eventual statement will use the term “elders"? My money is on at least 4 times.
4 Go to commentsSo Ireland will be tired, despite having the most rested test squad in the world. They only play tests, champions cup and urc play off games ffs! Case in point; Leinster sent a B squad to SA for their last two games while their first xv rested up and trained at their leisure for the sf vs Saints at the so called ‘neutral venue’ of Croke Park. So tired? Do me a favour… And as for “people’s champions”? Seriously??? Outside of Ireland they are respected for their ability to win 6N. And of course plenty of inconsequential test friendlies without any real pressure. WC ko games when the pressure is white hot? Not so much…
54 Go to comments