Foster lines up heavyweight team
OPINIONIan Foster hasn’t spent eight years under Steve Hansen’s tutelage not paying attention, with the incumbent All Blacks assistant said to have already assembled a formidable support team in his pitch for the soon-to-be-vacant top job.
Foster confirmed in the lead-in to Friday’s bronze medal playoff at the Rugby World Cup in Japan, where the All Blacks will meet Wales in the dreaded matchup of the semifinal losers, that he remains committed to applying for the head coach’s job when this campaign ends.
Stuff understands that Foster’s bid to become the next All Blacks head coach contains a heavyweight support crew, possibly including former Irish coach Kiwi Joe Schmidt, which he is hoping will be enough to tip a now tight and intriguing contest his way.
The semifinal defeat has opened up an appetite for change, with successful Crusaders coach Scott Robertson, former Chiefs mentor Dave Rennie and Japan boss Jamie Joseph all prominent in speculation around potential successors. Robertson, in particular, has support from those calling for a fresh new face atop the All Blacks.
But sources indicate that a ‘‘rock star’’ of the game has already been lined up as a key part of Foster’s coaching team that he will pitch to New Zealand Rugby’s appointments committee when the job officially opens up.
One New Zealand Rugby board member in the loop is said to have been very excited by the level of support Foster has assembled, while another source indicated it was an ‘‘impressive’’ group.
The last time the All Blacks coaching job was fully contestable was post-2007 when successful Crusaders coach Robbie Deans challenged incumbent Graham Henry without a full support team in place. NZ Rugby were won over by the strong team pitch of
Henry, Hansen and Wayne Smith and reappointed the trio on the basis they would take on board the lessons of the tournament failure.
That group then formed the basis of back-to-back World Cup triumphs and a prolonged era of success on the international stage, with Hansen eventually taking over from Henry after the 2011 victory.
Now Foster faces a similar challenge to Henry and co in 2007 – convincing the NZ Rugby board that he can rebuild the programme on the back of a disappointing World Cup result after last Saturday’s semifinal elimination by England.
Like Henry’s successful pitch, Foster will go big on the benefits of continuity and succession planning – especially with the departure of Hansen after a 16-year involvement with the team and also long-time scrum and forwards guru Mike Cron who takes a lot of IP with him. There’s a strong possibility, too, selector Grant Fox might also make this his last campaign.
Foster, an assistant for two World Cup cycles under Hansen, will argue that change has never worked in the World Cup era and that retention and continuity most definitely have. He will also point out that with those already standing down, his own promotion and the introduction of a new support crew would bring a high degree of freshness with it. So who could Foster have enlisted on his support team?
There’s possibly no more enticing a prospect than Schmidt who initially removed himself from contention for vacant gigs as he was taking some overdue time off to spend with his family.
But Schmidt recently confirmed he has some ‘‘humbling’’ offers in front of him and has hinted that he could be back involved in rugby as early as June or July next year.