New coach facing two big hurdles

The hard work starts now for new All Blacks head coach Ian Foster, who wasn’t the public’s pick and must now take on the Wallabies’ Dave Rennie, the man who replaced him at the Chiefs and outperformed him in that role.

Frankly, there will be those on both sides of the Tasman who think the Wallabies have got the better end of the deal by appointing Rennie while the All Blacks have Foster.

That sounds like a rather brutal ‘welcome to the job’ assessment for Foster on day one but we are doing no-one any favours by being delicate about it.

Foster wins strong praise from the people who know him well, such as former player Duane Monkley, but for many he got the All Blacks job simply by virtue of already being within an organisation that likes to promote internally.

The question will be asked: how did a bloke who has won nothing as a head coach beat the Crusaders bloke who wins everything he touches?

Others will inquire why Jamie Joseph and Tony Brown were not hastily recruited by the All Blacks given their feats at Super Rugby and test level.

The impression that Foster only offers continuity is incomplete, unfair and fails to recognise the qualities he brings to the job, but it’s certainly there.

And if the All Blacks were to lose the Bledisloe Cup to the Wallabies under Foster the backlash would be swift and painful.

New Zealand Rugby chairman Brent Impey and CEO Mark Robinson would not be spared some hard questions, either, but perhaps they have been wise enough to put an insurance policy in with Foster’s contract.

The deal announced yesterday runs for two years and will therefore be up when Scott Robertson’s current contract runs out at the Crusaders.

Similarly, in 2021 Warren Gatland will be returning from a third British and Irish Lions tour and if he wins or draws in South Africa his already high stocks will be even more valuable.

Foster’s smart enough to see all of these things, and he’ll be well aware of the public grumbles.

And, to his credit, he has managed to put together a good team, with Hurricanes coach John Plumtree shaping as strong right-hand man.

The reported recruitment of scrum coach Greg Feek, who turned what had been a weak area for Irish rugby into a relatively strong one, is also smart (and hints at an attempt to bring in Joe Schmidt, whom Feek obviously knows well).

Nonetheless when things get tough it’s not the assistants who are wheeled out in front of the cameras to face the music; it’s the head coach.

And it will be on Foster to put some excitement back into the All Blacks after two unconvincing years leading up to the Rugby World Cup when it appeared things were getting a little stale.

Meanwhile, across the ditch Rennie awaits. He has challenges of his own but the Bledisloe Cup next year will be the battle of the coaches and only then will we know if NZ Rugby has chosen wisely.