FOSTER CARE

The All Blacks assistant coach knows his team fell short at key moments of the Lions series. He aims to put that right against the Wallabies on Saturday. Richard Knowler reports from Sydney.

Taking inspiration from rugby league hard men Mark Graham and Clayton Friend probably wasn’t at the forefront of Ian Foster’s mind as he watched his men train at North Sydney Oval yesterday.

But if All Blacks assistant coach Foster had stopped the drills and told his players that the lovely old ground was once the home of the North Sydney Bears, a first-grade side that boasted former Kiwi firebrands Graham and Friend, he might have had some fun.

Because if anyone had asked what was so special about Graham and Friend, the stories about how the two proud New Zealanders used to bust a gut for their club in the 1980s could have provided a useful history lesson.

When Graham and Friend played, it was an era where tough blokes with mullets drove Holden HQs, ripped and tore on the field and smoked cigarettes and downed six-packs of beer as part of their post-match recovery regimes.

In reality, though, the All Blacks were never going to allow themselves to get distracted. They say they have got enough on their plate, without getting sidetracked by tales of the carnage blokes such as ‘‘Sharko’’ Graham created among his league brethren.

Determined to set the record straight in the wake of the 1-1 series draw with the British and Irish Lions, which ended with a 15-15 draw in the third test in Auckland, the All Blacks are eager to get stuck into the Wallabies on Saturday night.

Foster says everyone – including the coaches – had to acknowledge that the Lions exposed some shortcomings.

Injuries, illness and suspension ruled Ben Smith, Rieko Ioane, Waisake Naholo, Ryan Crotty and Sonny Bill Williams out of the third test, forcing a major revamp of the backline, yet the All Blacks still managed to make line breaks.

It was their finishing skills that let them down, and Foster said the coaches had to take some responsibility for those busts not resulting in action on the scoreboard.

‘‘At test match level it doesn’t matter who you are, when you have got a team on the ropes like that you take advantage of it,’’ Foster said.

‘‘And we weren’t as good as we needed to be.’’

The backline will look vastly different for Bledisloe I. Williams is likely to partner Ryan Crotty in the midfield, Israel Dagg and Ioane could be on the wings and Smith is expected to start at fullback.

Tighthead prop Owen Franks, who has been bothered by a sore Achilles tendon in recent months, is expected to be keep on chugging on.

‘‘We have got a plan, and I would call it flexible at the moment,’’ Foster said in regards to managing Franks’ injury. ‘‘We are just looking to get through a week at a time for the next couple of weeks, and then we will re-assess.

‘‘Overall he is going OK. Our medicos have done a great job and he is in a good spot too.’’

A number of Franks’ teammates from the Crusaders team that beat the Lions in the Super Rugby final in Johannesburg are likely to be told they must immediately get back to work.

No 8 and captain Kieran Read, lock Sam Whitelock, loosehead prop Joe Moody and hooker Codie Taylor could start in the forward pack.

‘‘They bring that self belief and confidence into the camp,’’ Foster explained. ‘‘We didn’t utilise them in our [training] game on Friday, and gave them the chance to sit back and watch.

‘‘Often the best way to mentally charge up a player is to see someone else playing in your position,’’ Foster said.

‘‘When you have got a team on the ropes like that you take advantage of it. And we weren’t as good as we needed to be.’’ Ian Foster