With these All Blacks it's about coaching and leadership, plain and simple
Hubris is at the heart of the issue here.
Not Ian Foster’s, necessarily, although find me a coach that doesn’t believe they have the answers to everything.
No, we have a nation and an All Blacks team being held to ransom by the arrogance of New Zealand Rugby (NZR).
Let’s be honest here.
Foster was never the right man to be All Blacks coach and, were the game under better management, he would’ve been gone at the end of either of the team’s 2020 or 2021 campaigns.
Look, journalism is about snap judgements. It’s about meeting people, sizing them up, chatting away and then reaching conclusions.
If journalists are qualified in anything, it’s that.
We talk to good people, bad people, smart people and dim people and we realise very quickly who’s who.
Who among us then, be they media, fans or only occasional watchers of rugby, has ever been captivated by Ian Foster? Who’s been dazzled by his brilliance and charisma? Who’s been struck by the man’s acumen and authority?
People will say that Foster is potentially a good coach and that, just because he doesn’t have a great public persona, doesn’t mean he’s not good at his job.
And I’d counter with Ireland’s 2-1 series win on these shores and various All Blacks defeats overseas.
Do you, in your heart of hearts, believe Ireland’s players are better than ours? Do you?
There’s no doubt they’re better coached, more united and more successful right now. But are they actually better?
Man for man, most of us would agree the All Blacks have more talent.
So it’s about coaching and leadership, plain and simple.
Or, more to the point, the absence of both.
If NZR were leaders, they’d have led by now. They’d have accepted their appointment error and moved on.
Instead, and this is where the hubris comes in, they’re too proud to admit their fault.
Imagine that? Imagine being so tied to the belief in your own infallibility, that you’d rather lose test matches than admit you got it wrong.
Well, I’d wager the losses being piled up by this coaching regime is doing more damage to the All Blacks’ brand than any admission of failure ever could.
It’s obscene that journalists were prevented from asking Foster about his future, following Saturday’s 32-22 defeat to Ireland. It’s shameful that there was no Sunday morning press briefing, as has always been the custom. It’s pathetic that the best we got instead was an inadequate press release quoting NZR chief executive Mark Robinson.
He and Foster should be fronting the public. They should be taking hard questions and asserting their leadership credentials.
And, if they’re not prepared to do that, then they should go.
I hear Foster talk endlessly of lessons and markers. Of sobering realisations about the standards the once mighty All Blacks have to aspire to.
And then I sit and cringe at the ineptitude of performances, such as Saturday night’s.
Well, have your thorough review of the Ireland series, NZR. Sit down with old mate Fozzie and develop support structures and strategies to better-equip the team for success.
Send out the subsequent press release, stating your full confidence in the coaching staff and excitement at the challenges ahead.
Just don’t be surprised when that fails to stem the tide of public disquiet.
Everyone wants to support the team. They love the players and the jersey and they revel in the status the All Blacks have afforded New Zealand on the world stage.
But people are hurt right now. They’re disillusioned and disappointed and they believe a change in coach could fix that.
But they also know it’s not in NZR’s nature to admit when they’re wrong and, for that reason, they’re about ready to give up on this team while things remain the same.
Comments on RugbyPass
Don’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
9 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
33 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
2 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
33 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
49 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
33 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
33 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
17 Go to commentsI'm not listening to a guy moralise over others when this is the guy who walked out mid season on Canterbury RLFC when he had a contract with them, what a hypocrite. Those praising him are a joke.
17 Go to commentsI’d put Finau at 6 instead of Blackadder but that’s the only change I’d make. Can’t wait to see who Razor picks.
33 Go to commentsTamati Williams, Codie Taylor, and Same Cane? Not sure about Hoskins Sotutu at test level. Wasn’t that impressive last season. Need a balance between experience and talent/youth.
33 Go to commentsInteresting insight. Fantastic athlete, and a genuine human being.
17 Go to commentsThey played at night in Suva last weekend and it’s an afternoon game forecast for 19 degrees in Canberra this weekend. Heat change is a non issue.
1 Go to commentsWishing Rosie a speedy recovery
1 Go to commentsObscene that SA haven’t been knocking
1 Go to commentsChances of Blackadder being injured seem too high to give him serious consideration. ABs loosie combination finally looked good with 2 committed to tackling and clearing rucks in the centre and Ardie roaming. Hoskins/Ardie together would force one of them into where they don’t excel and don’t get to use their talent, or require a change in tactics. If we continue to evolve last years systems I would take Papali’i and Finau at 6 and 7 (conceding that Blackadder will be injured) and Ardie at 8.
33 Go to commentsArdie’s preferred position 7? Where do they get these writers from? I've no idea where he's playing in Japan, but the previous two seasons he wore the 7 jersey exactly twice.
17 Go to commentsNot good to hear Ulster described as “financially troubled”. Did not think it was getting to that level. I would hope the Irish system of spreading players of talent away from Leinster would kick in now. Better to have a Leinster fringe player with Ulster or Connacht, then getting only a few games a season in Dublin. 10, for example, would seem to be a case for spreading the talent. I would not be at all adverse to a SA man coming in as head coach/DR. Ludeke is worth trying. Certainly got a long and impressive coaching career at this level…..149 games in SR, then Japan, 30 years experience. And Ulster’s ledger of successful SA coaches and players is on the positive side. Is talk of Ruan Pienaar interested in coming back as a coach…..could be a good combination with Ludeke. And Pienaar and family would have no settling in to do, one would judge. He loved life in Ulster when there, by all reports.
1 Go to comments