ABs coach isolates himself

All Blacks coach Ian Foster has put himself in self-isolation at his Waikato rural retreat as he hunkers down and does what he can to prepare for the resumption of rugby, whenever that might be.

Foster told Stuff yesterday that he is working through a two-week self-isolation period after returning from a trip to the northern hemisphere with wife Leigh last Saturday – ahead of the cutoff point for a mandatory lockdown but not early enough for him to feel comfortable about mixing freely with society.

The government has since indicated, retrospectively, it preferred all returning travellers from a two-week period prior to the midnight Sunday cutoff to still go through the self-isolation process on a voluntary basis.

So Foster has obliged because he feels it’s the only responsible thing to do amid the coronavirus pandemic that is gripping the world.

Foster had to cut short his trip north to attend a World Rugby working group on the breakdown in Paris, as well as ticking off some other All Blacks duties, to dash back ahead of schedule amid the imminent coronavirus travel restrictions.

‘‘So we got home Saturday morning, on Sunday morning we went back up to Auckland airport to pick her [daughter returning from Los Angeles] up, we did a grocery shop and that’s the last time I’ve been out of the house.’’

Foster said it was a ‘‘no-brainer’’ for him and his family to self-isolate after returning from overseas. That view was reinforced by discussions with All Blacks team doctor Tony Page around best practice amid this pandemic.

‘‘I wasn’t really comfortable going straight to moving around because when you go out you’re shaking hands and doing that sort of stuff. It’s not a good look,’’ he said.

‘‘I’m glad we made that decision, and now it’s just as easy to add another week on it. I’ve never spoken as much on the phone in my life.’’