Days of ABs’ Foster care over?

Ian Foster is surely a goner. Among the laundry list of issues the board of New Zealand Rugby has to work through over the next few days around the All Blacks, that decision should take the least of their time.

The board, we now know unequivocally, got it patently wrong last year when they extended Foster’s contract as All Blacks head coach through to the 2023 World Cup based on back-toback home victories over a weak Wallabies side. Now these guardians of the game in this country must put their hands up and concede (as I noted at the time) that the decision was premature, and horrendously erroneous.

Any other course of action could lead to the provinces wondering whether they have the right people running the game in this country.

Boards, we all know, hate to admit to their bad calls. They cling to their courses of action until there is no alternative. There is now no alternative.

There is only one path forward for the All Blacks out of the morass into which they have plunged, and it no longer includes a head coach singularly incapable of connecting with and inspiring his players.

The facts and figures are one thing – the worst record in the professional era, the first home series loss since 1994’s 2-0 sweep by France, defeat in four of their last five tests, etc, etc – but the eye test tells us all we need to know about Foster’s suitability as head coach.

The All Blacks played two quality quarters, out of 12, in the 2-1 series loss to Ireland. Two. The second in Auckland and third in Wellington.

For the most part they were outplayed in all facets by the visitors whose efficiency, togetherness, physicality and skill made the New Zealanders look second-rate.

These are not sentences that should be written about the All Blacks.

It should also be noted that the All Blacks’ lone victory in July – at Eden Park – came at the end of a week in which Foster was absent for its entirety and for which the players took the lead role in preparations. Coincidence? You would think not.

But don’t just take my word for it. After Saturday’s 32-22 defeat in

Wellington, senior players Ardie Savea, whose standout performance went unrewarded, and Dane Coles gave strong indications this is not an All Blacks team operating in harmony.

‘‘We’ve got to question our mana and our heart,’’ said Savea.

‘‘We’ve got to get out of the trenches, and put some pride back in the black jersey, because it’s not there at the moment. We’ve got to look hard at ourselves in the mirror, because that’s not good enough.’’

Added Coles, always an excellent barometer on the health of the All Blacks: ‘‘Something needs to change from the whole group. Everyone has to have a deep look at themselves … we’ve got to come up with better solutions and better effort because it’s not good enough at the moment. We’ve got to have courageous conversations and get stuck into each other.’’

Even former All Blacks captain Kieran Read, not noted as an acerbic critic of his old team, noted, ‘‘it looked as if we hadn’t been together for long enough… we weren’t in sync, the timing was out’’.

The players must take their share of the blame. They are the ones dropping balls and missing tackles. But for the most part there is little argument they are the cream of the crop in this country.

For what it’s worth, Foster has also lost whatever support he once had from Kiwis, with a Stuff poll of close to 25,000 people before the deciding test showing 87% believed his job should be under scrutiny before the World Cup. Now that figure might be much closer to 100%.

In fact, in the inevitable fallout in the wake of the Ireland series defeat it is difficult to find voices in favour of Foster’s retention. Steve Hansen and Steve Tew, maybe, but their views hold no weight now.

A change of coach at this stage won’t be straightforward. There are just three weeks before the next daunting assignment (back-toback tests in South Africa), so the time-frame is tight. Does Scott Robertson, successor-elect, want to take over at this stage?

He would surely need assurances around his term, and the people he would have him around him. He would not want to inherit Foster’s crew en masse.

There are also employment matters to consider. Foster has a contract through till the end of 2023. His assistants too.

NZR would have to negotiate some sort of severance package, with an honourable exit no doubt high on the agenda.

It might all be too difficult. But it shouldn’t be. Desperate times require desperate measures.

It has largely been glossed over amid the All Black fallout, but Wayne Barnes’ decision to only yellow card Irish prop Andrew Porter for his head-on-head contact on Brodie Retallick was every bit as shocking as his missed forward pass in the 2007 World Cup quarterfinal.

Also isn’t it a crying shame that the inter-hemisphere three-test series in July, with four thrilling deciders across the four major southern nations, seem destined to be discontinued in favour of a meaningless global series.

Another shocker from World Rugby.