Foster: All Blacks have to be ready

All Blacks coach Ian Foster says rugby has an important role to play in life after, or maybe even during, the coronavirus pandemic, and challenges all entrenched in the sport to stay as ready as they can while the crisis plays out.

Foster, who is in self-isolation in his Waikato home with his wife and two daughters after recently returning from a trip to Europe and the UK, is well aware that his scheduled first tests as All Blacks head coach in July against Wales and Scotland are now highly unlikely to go ahead.

Rugby in the northern hemisphere has shut down for the foreseeable future and it is hard to imagine a scenario where they will be ready to travel to the other side of the world to play tests in just a few months. It is probably only a matter of time before the global body announces the cancellation or postponement of its July international schedule.

But Foster cannot afford to take that view. He’s planning and preparing as though it’s business as usual. In times of stress and high pressure the All Blacks have a staunch ethos around operating a week at a time and focusing all your energies and attention on what you need to take care of in that short time-span.

The new All Blacks coach is very much embracing that philosophy now.

‘‘I’m looking at a week down the track,’’ Foster explained yesterday. ‘‘Clearly there’s a big question mark over a whole lot of things. What we do know is once things do settle down, and we’ve all got to believe the sacrifice we’re making in the next little while is going to help us conquer this, we’ll come out the other side and the game is going to have to get ready to go.

‘‘When the game gets ready to go hopefully we can get the community game going as quick as we can, because that’s the lifeblood of us. But what we also know is there is going to be massive pressure to get All Blacks’ tests played because they’re a big revenue puller and the game is going to need some money.

‘‘We’re not focusing on when we’re going to be playing; we just know we will be and we’ve got to be ready.’’

Foster said rugby was no different to any other organisation or business in this country. The No 1 priority had to be keeping people safe and following the guidelines being given from above. But beyond that it also had clear driving forces.

‘‘NZ Rugby Inc are working really hard, and I know Robbo [chief executive Mark Robinson] and people all over are looking at a lot of contingency plans. That’s what you would expect and what every other business is doing, and clearly we’re involved in those conversations as well.

‘‘And in an All Blacks capacity clearly there an uncertainty about what our programme is going to look like but there are some things I know for certain. Everyone has been stretched financially and when opportunities do arise out the other side, the All Blacks are going be a mechanism that is going to help get our game back on its feet very, very quickly. We have to be ready to go wherever and whenever that is.

‘There’s also the Nick Gill side of the operation [strength and conditioning]. At the moment it’s what support can we be for the franchises who are at the coalface and if the break becomes longer term it’s what’s the right thing to do with athletes stuck at home in order to keep fit, keen and excited.’’

Foster re-emphasised the importance of staying day-to-day through this time of difficulty.

‘‘The more you look into the future, the easier it is to catastrophise things – get a structure, get something to achieve the next seven days and figure out how to go about it.

‘‘That’s not just rugby planning, is there a job around the house you’ve been putting off, how can we work on our relationships with people we’re isolated with and grow them. Do the little bits and pieces and at the end of the day put your head on your pillow and say you’ve achieved something.’’

Foster also supported planning around a potential localised resumption of Super Rugby, with one important caveat.

‘‘I love the attitude of Robbo, the franchises and people involved in the competition because they’re desperately trying to say, ‘here’s another product we can put out that still has significant meaning’.

‘‘Clearly everyone is working hard on a project they know there’s a big question mark on based on the public health situation.

‘‘Surely people would expect us to try find a way to get rugby on the park if it is deemed to be safe. If it’s not safe then it shouldn’t happen.’’

Under the prime minister’s latest restrictions announced yesterday, especially around nonessential domestic travel, there now how has to be major doubts about whether it can get off the ground.

Whatever transpires, Foster feels sure rugby will be part of the solution when the world returns to normality.

‘‘Everyone wants people to get back engaging with each other as much as we can, but with this virus that’s the very behaviour that’s negative. In the meantime we’ve got to come up with creative ways so that when it finishes, when we come out the other side, how our game survives, for the sake of the game and also the communities who will be looking for things to galvanise around and to get out and enjoy together.’’

‘‘. . . there is going to be massive pressure to get All Blacks tests played because they’re a big revenue puller and the game is going to need some money.’’ ABs coach Ian Foster, left