New, bullish Foster faces huge tests
The New Zealanders have made significant gains since July’s home series loss to Ireland, yet head for their tour north with plenty still to prove. By Marc Hinton.
Beneath the indignant and obstinate exterior lurks a rugby coach with a sensitive disposition and what would appear to be the odd self-doubt. Welcome to the enigma that is Ian Foster, the All Blacks coach who bags trophies and critics in equally plentiful quantities.
It has not been the easiest of years for the contentious, sometimes cantankerous, coach who was minutes from seeing his job go up in flames in the Ellis Park furnace, but survived that and a similar defining moment in Melbourne because, well, his players delivered when it mattered and the bounce of the ball fell his way.
Fine lines abound in international sport and Foster has trodden either side of a major one this year, as he has sought to get his All Blacks on track to regain a World Cup trophy they surrendered all too meekly in 2019. His team remain very much a work in progress, less than a year from the global event, down to No 4 on the rankings, but with some hope the corner might have been turned.
Let’s recap a year that’s veered between stagger and swagger en-route to a 5-4 record, and has a final chapter to add with four important tests on a northern tour. Remember, the All Blacks finished 2021 with back-to-back November defeats to Ireland and France that laid bare a laundry-list of shortcomings.
That the men in black then backed that up with an historic 2-1 home series defeat to Ireland in July only ramped up the pressure, and questions, which built to a crescendo when they coughed up their Rugby Championship opener 26-10 to the Springboks in Mbombela – their worst defeat to the old enemy in 94 years. At that stage the count was five defeats in six.
History now tells us the All
Blacks not only saved their coach’s job (the axe was halted almost mid-flight post-Joburg), but conjured a successful turnaround. Of sorts. They won four of their next five matches, and the final three on the bounce, to tuck away a 20th straight Bledisloe Cup defence and retain the Rugby Championship.
It has been that sort of a year as Foster and his All Blacks have ridden the proverbial rollercoaster – a term the coach is not particularly fond of – commensurate with a team still well short of their best stuff.
This has been a sub-par All Blacks campaign. Let’s be clear on that. They are one defeat from matching their worst loss total in the professional era (1998) and second worst of all time. And Foster continues to preside over the wrong sort of history, adding to 2020’s first ever defeat to Argentina by piloting the first loss to the Pumas on Kiwi spoil, the first home series defeat to Ireland, and the first run of three straight losses in New Zealand.
And, for all the recent bluster, they have yet to log consecutive standout performances in 2022. They followed a clinical seriesopening victory over Ireland by being humbled in consecutive matches; backed up the epic Ellis Park turnaround by tumbling to Argentina in Christchurch; and after Hamilton’s seven-try hiding of the Pumas coughed up a final-quarter 18-point lead against the Wallabies in Melbourne, only to escape via an outrageous piece of officiating.
Yet, ahead of looming visits to Japan, Wales, Scotland and
England, Foster is adamant key progress is being made by a lineup significantly different in makeup to those who started the season.
‘‘In life you don’t know what it’s going to chuck at you – you can only deal with the situation you’re in,’’ reflected the coach. ‘‘What have we learnt? We’ve learnt under pressure we stay tight, under pressure we’ve sought solutions that have made us uncomfortable at times, but the goal is to try to get the performance right.
‘‘There is still quite a bit left in this tank. The building blocks are nice, but there are still a lot of finishing touches we’re not quite getting right. But what a great spot to be in.’’
Foster went even further when asked if he felt he had proven a point. ‘‘If you take the word ‘you’ and make it a ‘we’, we’ve proven to ourselves we can climb through some adversity . . . I’m proud of the way the team dealt with the pressure of not performing to a level we want to and hasn’t sulked about it, and just got into work.’’
So, where are the All Blacks at this juncture? On the plus side, they have brought in two influential assistant coaches (Jason Ryan and Joe Schmidt); they have refreshed the front row with Ethan de Groot, Samisoni Taukei’aho and Tyrel Lomax; have moved the performance needle big time in the pack; added some muchneeded variation to the attack; been excellent under the high ball and on either side of the lineout drive; have found possibly Jordie Barrett’s best position (12); and been clutch in some seriously big moments (Ellis Park and Marvel Stadium).
You could throw in the individual success stories of Ardie Savea and Taukei’aho, the successful reintegration of wing Caleb Clarke after his year away, the restoration of Richie Mo’unga at first-five and some key depth developed at No 6, lock and second-five.
But it has not all been sweetness and light. Consistency has been the big weakness, with even Foster conceding they have not been relentless enough in mindset around performance.
‘There is still quite a bit left in this tank. The building blocks are nice, but there are still a lot of finishing touches we’re not quite getting right. But what a great spot to be in.’ IAN FOSTER
Converting line-breaks has also been short of the mark, starts were an issue much of the year, the defence in July and Melbourne was a concern and options behind starters at halfback, on the wing and at No 8 are worrying.
Then there’s Foster. He saved his job with that victory from a tight spot in Joburg and has had the predictable support of senior players (he’s picking them, after all). He has clearly made progress in key areas and has finally enacted the sort of refresh that critics have been calling for since late last year. Kudos there.
But the coach cannot get a free pass. He has not coped well with warranted criticism and has let it affect his demeanour and actions. His relationship with the media is a difficult one, and he appears unable to separate scrutiny that goes with the role from a perception he’s being unfairly treated.
‘‘It hurt. It was a pretty vicious period, and everyone was questioning a lot of things, including me,’’ he said in one interview recently about the run of defeats. ‘‘Us coaches believe we’re bullet-proof and can deal with the criticism. I got some great advice from a high-profile person in another sport who said it doesn’t matter how tough your armour is, every so often the bullets get through.
‘‘It’s not a world you want to live in. My job is to lead this group and create an organisation we thrive in, and when you’re going through periods of change sometimes that’s hard. It’s not about proving people wrong, it’s about showing people we are growing . . . I believe we’ve positioned ourselves very strongly in the last 12 months.’’
His critics would counter that he was directly responsible for the mid-year coaching upheaval (John Plumtree and Brad Mooar were his handpicked men, after all), that he was slow to enact the front-row refresh, and that it took him a long, long time to accept that Jordie Barrett could make a difference at No 12.
But maybe those assessments are best kept for another time. Right now Foster has four important tests that may shape, not just his year, but his coaching legacy.