'Treatment of Foster by his own community nothing short of shameful'
Ex-Scotland boss Matt Williams has hit out at the New Zealand media and All Blacks fans for their treatment of Ian Foster in the wake of the 1-2 Test series defeat to Ireland. Foster has flown out to South Africa for his team’s upcoming two Rugby Championship matches against the Springboks on the back of a torrent of criticism following the recent losses in Dunedin and Wellington.
The fallout has resulted in the NZR axing two of the assistants – John Plumtree and Brad Mooar – who were recruited by Foster when he became All Blacks coach in 2020 and amid the ongoing criticism, his union CEO Mark Robinson failed to give him a ringing vote of confidence when interviewed this weekend on New Zealand radio from the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
It has all lent itself to creating an intriguing backdrop to next weekend’s Championship opener in Nelspruit, a venue that Williams reckons was purposely chosen by the Springboks to make the All Blacks feel as uncomfortable as possible as the visitors seek to put an end to a withering run of four losses in their last five matches under Foster.
Williams – an Australian who coached the NSW Waratahs before switching to Leinster – is a long time removed from the Test game having been sacked by Scotland in 2005 but he has since developed a punditry career on Irish TV and with the Irish Times.
His latest newspaper column didn’t pull its punches when reflecting on the situation that Foster finds himself in ahead of the All Blacks’ Championship opener.
Matt Williams: South Africans plan an ambush to heap more woe on wounded All Blacks https://t.co/mivV5lC5Tx pic.twitter.com/lRIpyp45Fv
— Irish Times Sport (@IrishTimesSport) July 31, 2022
“The pivotal match of the tournament may well be its first when New Zealand take on South Africa in Mbombela,” wrote Williams. “Little known to the rugby world, Mbombela Stadium sits 110km west of the Mozambique border and 330km east of Johannesburg, which is about as distant physically and culturally from the Land of the Long White Cloud as you can get. Having visited Mbombela many years ago I can promise you, Paris it ain’t.
“The fact that Mbombela sits on the Crocodile River suggests – and here please excuse my cynicism – that the South Africans have organised a very public ambush, to heap more pain on the already wounded New Zealanders.
“This week former New Zealand World Cup-winning coach Steve Hansen harshly criticised New Zealand Rugby for its lack of public support for their team and its under-fire coach Ian Foster, who has suffered far more public criticism and humiliation than any coach should be forced to endure for a sporting defeat.
“Not for the first time, the reaction to defeat by the New Zealand media and their wider rugby community has exposed a deep flaw of character. The treatment of Foster by his own community has been nothing short of shameful. As a coach criticism comes with the badge but the personal vilification he has had to endure is simply not acceptable. Hansen also said the relationship between the New Zealand players and New Zealand Rugby is at an all-time low.
“After trampling all over Super Rugby, then alienating every national union in the south and possibly forcing the Springboks north, is it any wonder New Zealand Rugby and its team find themselves isolated and boxed into a corner created by their own self-serving actions?
“With such dreadful governance from Sanzaar, it is no accident that the northern nations have recovered so much ground on the south. Not even a victory against the Springboks next weekend will solve all of these deep concerns for New Zealand Rugby and Sanzaar. Mbombela Stadium has become the very unlikely venue for a Test match with stakes that have suddenly jumped far beyond just the opening round of the 2022 Rugby Championship.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to comments