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
It’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
2 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
24 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
1 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
2 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
24 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
24 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
1 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
2 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
14 Go to commentsHi NIck, I have been very impressed with him and he seems a smart player who can see opportunities which Bobby V _(who must be an international 6_) doesn’t see or have the speed to take advantage of. If he continues to improve and puts on 5kgs then he could be a great 8. He is a bit taller than Keiran Reid at 1.93m and 111 kgs, so his skill set fits his body size and who knows where it will lead. I hope the spate of Achilles tendon issues have been dealt with by the S&C people. It’s been a very long time since Mark Loane and Kefu stood out at 8. The question is will we be able to hold onto him, if he does make it he will be pretty hot property. I disagree with the idea of letting them go to the Northern Hemisphere and then bring them back.
24 Go to commentsBilly Fulton 🤣🤣🤣🤣 garrrmon not even close
14 Go to commentsDoes the AI take into account refs? hahaha Seriously why not have two on field refs to avoid bias?
24 Go to comments