NPR

Gumboot wrote: ↑Wed Aug 10, 2022 10:21 am I hope that Foster sticks with the side that he's selected and coached so far this year. He needs to own this mess. There's no need to make big changes if they're "not far off".

Foster’s tenure is hanging by a thread. Why? “Is there a scissor shortage in New Zealand?’’ posted one online wit. It’s hard to argue with such gallows humour.

Guy Smiley wrote: ↑Wed Aug 10, 2022 3:26 am https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/all ... hing-stock

OPINION: The accusation that the All Blacks are rudderless is unfair. They have plenty of rudders. The problem is that most of those rudders are pointing in different directions and the rest of the rudders are broken.

Sadly, the coach and the captain are broken. The picture of Sam Cane lying on the ground as Willie le Roux cantered over the line for the final try of the emphatic defeat to South Africa was stark and symbolic. The caption ‘down and out’ immediately came to mind.

Cane should be given time away from this environment to heal. The same is true for Foster. Both men need a break from the game. My understanding is that cutting Foster loose will also not cost the type of money that has been put out there.

There is surely a break clause in the contracts of all the All Blacks coaches given the hasty nature of last year’s contract extensions.

Stewart Mitchell, the chairman of the board, is a business consultant and there is plenty of other financial savvy on that NZ Rugby board. It is almost unthinkable that there would not be a break clause.

It should also be noted that the hiring and firing of the All Blacks coach is ultimately the responsibility of the board. I suspect from what he has said that Foster may be gone by now if it were down to Mark Robinson, the CEO.

But Robinson does not have the power to make that call. It is down to the board. They are responsible for the appointment of the coach and of the CEO.



And it wasn’t just the series loss to Ireland that has cost Foster his job security. There was also fury amongst senior management that the Sunday press conference after the series defeat by Ireland was cancelled and at appallingly short notice. That was seen as unacceptable and just about unprecedented. It was also seen as weak and an affront to the country.

So Foster really is on borrowed time. Under those circumstances it is not unreasonable to surmise that the appointment of Jason Ryan as forwards coach was also a way of preparing the ground for Scott Robertson, should he feel able to take over from Foster.

There is a contingency plan in place should Foster fail, and unfortunately there can be no doubt that he is failing, by his own admission.


When he took the job Foster said: “It’s up to me to show you that I’m innovative, I’ve got a sense of direction about where I want this team to go and to really grow and to get some mana back on the field which we felt we’ve lost a little bit”.

By his own words shall we judge him. Even the haka is now unconvincing. That mana has gone up in smoke. South Africa have far more ethnic challenges than New Zealand, far more healing to do from their brutal history, but they were the only team with mana on Saturday.

I remember a ball going loose from another aerial challenge and the two captains dived for it. But it was inevitably Siya Kolisi who regathered. There is only one rainbow nation and it is not the men in black. How evident that was on the pitch. South Africa were pulling in one direction, however limited. New Zealand didn’t know what they were up to.

There was one stark symbol of that muddle when Jordie Barrett came up for a high ball and Cane took him out in the air. Downed by his own captain. A couple of minutes later, Scott Barrett and Will Jordan also collided. And they are Super Rugby teammates.

So when I talk about rudders pointing in different directions, I think about Beauden Barrett and Richie Mo’unga or Jordie Barrett and Will Jordan. Did Jordan touch the ball in the first half? The Barrett brothers (Scott excepted who with Sam Whitelock was the All Blacks’ best on Saturday) were playing their own personal game. And not very well.

When Jordie gave Beauden the ball at the start of the match, Beauden shuffled infield and seemed to have no idea where he was going. It was symbolic. There was another moment when Handre Pollard missed touch from a penalty and Beauden had Caleb Clarke outside him, completely unmarked. Instead he kicked the ball back to South Africa.


There was a lot of that. New Zealand are short of territory in recent matches because Beauden’s choice of options has been poor. The moment Richie Mo’unga came on, that changed. He and David Havili went ping, ping and pinned South Africa in their 22. Unfortunately the All Blacks seemed so surprised to be there that they coughed the ball up.

The other huge difference that Mo’unga made was in his ability to attack the outside shoulder of the rush defence. Beauden was forever cutting back inside and losing momentum. By all means give the inside ball, but running back into the cover gave Malcolm Marx the opportunity for many a turnover.

I don’t think that Foster can save his job now. The noise is too loud. But imagine the irony if he now turned to the Crusaders as his saviours. Foster didn’t want one as captain. He does not want one as number eight. He does not want one as first five. He doesn’t want one as fullback. And he certainly doesn’t want one as coach. In fact, in nearly all the big decision-making positions Foster has turned elsewhere.

But it may be his only way out. When Foster heeded Beauden Barrett’s call that he wanted back in at No 10, he gave away his authority. Previous coaches would have rapped Beauden down and said that he would play where he was picked. But Foster gave into it.

It was the moment his number was up. From then on the Barretts have been largely running the show. That’s natural. They’re brothers. Who else are they going to be closer to. But it has not been good for the All Blacks.

Beauden and Jordie are both terrific athletic talents but they are not tactical geniuses. That shows in their lack of silverware. So it’s time to move this show on.

That goes back to the four horsemen of the apocalypse: Steve Tew, Steve Hansen, Graham Henry and Brent Impey. They came up with the absurd continuity theory.

Did they not think that all the beautiful minds in sport over the previous century would have tested that out? Liverpool Football Club did and it ultimately failed because the next in line is not always a brilliant head coach.

Liverpool discovered it for the nonsense it is, which is why they now have Jurgen Klopp in charge and are reaching for the stars. But the four horsemen believed their own foolishness and gave this country Foster.


“Keep the legacy,” said Impey, as pal Foster was ushered into his seat, “but refresh at the same time because this is a dynamic situation.”

Yeah, right. Lose to Argentina for the first time in history. Lose a home series to Ireland for the first time in history with record scores. Lose to South Africa by the worst score since 1928.

Sadly, the All Blacks are now a laughing stock. My Scottish mate asked if we could keep Foster in place until Scotland play New Zealand in November. Another commenter said; “I’m Welsh. Can we play you. I mean we are awful but who knows.”

Foster’s tenure is hanging by a thread. Why? “Is there a scissor shortage in New Zealand?’’ posted one online wit. It’s hard to argue with such gallows humour.

Gumboot wrote: ↑Wed Aug 10, 2022 10:21 am I hope that Foster sticks with the side that he's selected and coached so far this year. He needs to own this mess. There's no need to make big changes if they're "not far off".

Ymx wrote: ↑Thu Aug 11, 2022 5:23 am No, that’s nonsense.

Watch these players in previous years or even in the Supe.

They’ve been run In to the ground with dreadful coaching and strategy, which has ruined cohesion, and now confidence.

These players when used correctly are the business.

Sards wrote: ↑Thu Aug 11, 2022 7:46 am

Ymx wrote: ↑Thu Aug 11, 2022 5:23 am No, that’s nonsense.

Watch these players in previous years or even in the Supe.

They’ve been run In to the ground with dreadful coaching and strategy, which has ruined cohesion, and now confidence.

These players when used correctly are the business.

Your players were bullied across the park

Guy Smiley wrote: ↑Thu Aug 11, 2022 8:00 am

Sards wrote: ↑Thu Aug 11, 2022 7:46 am

Ymx wrote: ↑Thu Aug 11, 2022 5:23 am No, that’s nonsense.

Watch these players in previous years or even in the Supe.

They’ve been run In to the ground with dreadful coaching and strategy, which has ruined cohesion, and now confidence.

These players when used correctly are the business.

Your players were bullied across the park

We’ve had close to 10 years now of a coaching regime that hasn’t prioritised numbers over the ball. On top of that, we’re watching a team that clearly has no clear plan to play to… they’re constantly on the back foot trying to compensate for those two considerable factors.

Give the same team a different coach with a clear plan and you’d see a different performance.

Give them a new coach with ideas and the courage to drop name players not performing and you’d have a serious contest on your hands. NZ has the players. We’ve just got a shit coach and a shit admin…

You guys would be pretty familiar with that concept.

Ymx wrote: ↑Thu Aug 11, 2022 5:23 am No, that’s nonsense.

Watch these players in previous years or even in the Supe.

They’ve been run In to the ground with dreadful coaching and strategy, which has ruined cohesion, and now confidence.

These players when used correctly are the business.

Grandpa wrote: ↑Thu Aug 11, 2022 9:15 am

Ymx wrote: ↑Thu Aug 11, 2022 5:23 am No, that’s nonsense.

Watch these players in previous years or even in the Supe.

They’ve been run In to the ground with dreadful coaching and strategy, which has ruined cohesion, and now confidence.

These players when used correctly are the business.

I agree... the cattle are there... though opposition countries would love to believe the players are the problem...

We just need Razor in to prove us right.

Sards wrote: ↑Thu Aug 11, 2022 9:31 am

Grandpa wrote: ↑Thu Aug 11, 2022 9:15 am

Ymx wrote: ↑Thu Aug 11, 2022 5:23 am No, that’s nonsense.

Watch these players in previous years or even in the Supe.

They’ve been run In to the ground with dreadful coaching and strategy, which has ruined cohesion, and now confidence.

These players when used correctly are the business.

I agree... the cattle are there... though opposition countries would love to believe the players are the problem...

We just need Razor in to prove us right.

Hey. I would love to agree with you. But your lot was getting hit backwards across the park at every contact. I have no idea how you can fix this. With defense so tight and rush defense you can't have that

Grandpa wrote: ↑Thu Aug 11, 2022 9:15 am

Ymx wrote: ↑Thu Aug 11, 2022 5:23 am No, that’s nonsense.

Watch these players in previous years or even in the Supe.

They’ve been run In to the ground with dreadful coaching and strategy, which has ruined cohesion, and now confidence.

These players when used correctly are the business.

I agree... the cattle are there... though opposition countries would love to believe the players are the problem...

We just need Razor in to prove us right.

Snooze wrote: ↑Thu Aug 11, 2022 3:15 pm

Grandpa wrote: ↑Thu Aug 11, 2022 9:15 am

Ymx wrote: ↑Thu Aug 11, 2022 5:23 am No, that’s nonsense.

Watch these players in previous years or even in the Supe.

They’ve been run In to the ground with dreadful coaching and strategy, which has ruined cohesion, and now confidence.

These players when used correctly are the business.

I agree... the cattle are there... though opposition countries would love to believe the players are the problem...

We just need Razor in to prove us right.

Yeah, this is the line I'm pedaling to anyone who'll listen to me (and that's not many ). But I'm calling them horses, not cattle - just for, you know, athleticism .

Sards wrote: ↑Thu Aug 11, 2022 9:31 am

Grandpa wrote: ↑Thu Aug 11, 2022 9:15 am

Ymx wrote: ↑Thu Aug 11, 2022 5:23 am No, that’s nonsense.

Watch these players in previous years or even in the Supe.

They’ve been run In to the ground with dreadful coaching and strategy, which has ruined cohesion, and now confidence.

These players when used correctly are the business.

I agree... the cattle are there... though opposition countries would love to believe the players are the problem...

We just need Razor in to prove us right.

Hey. I would love to agree with you. But your lot was getting hit backwards across the park at every contact. I have no idea how you can fix this. With defense so tight and rush defense you can't have that

However, that’s not necessarily due to anything the man in charge had control over.

Foster, having assisted Steve Hansen for eight years from 2012 to 2019, was appointed head coach of the New Zealand national side late last year.

This year, 2020, was hugely disrupted by COVID-19, with the international season not kicking off until October.

The All Blacks played just six tests this year – four against Australia followed by two against Argentina.

Contrast that with the original plan, which would have seen NZ host Wales and Scotland in July, before kicking off a six-game Rugby Championship followed by a four-match tour to Europe.



Needless to say, it wasn’t the easiest start to Foster’s reign – and that gave his critics ammunition to have a dig at the former Chiefs coach.

Speaking with the NZ Herald, Foster revealed that the disrupted season significantly impacted many of the coaching team’s plans for the year.

“It’s been a big learning curve,” Foster said of his first year in charge.

“We’ve got a new coaching group this year. We only had six tests to try things so we didn’t try all the changes we will end up making because we didn’t have enough games to do that. We had a new captain, new leadership group, 14 new or returning All Blacks in the extended squad and that involved bringing a whole lot of people up to speed.



“We were hoping for six brilliant consistent performances. We didn’t get them. That’s not unique in this business. Our job is to keep growing.

(Continue below ...)



“There’s a whole lot of unique leadership challenges that haven’t been there before with COVID and everything. I believe we dealt with that as best as we could.

“We didn’t get the overall consistency we desired. That’s disappointing but it was a year that was punctuated by some real highs and a couple of lows.”

Foster included bouncing back against Argentina in the All Blacks’ final game of the Tri-Nations as one of the highs, while the initial loss (the first-ever in New Zealand’s history) was undoubtedly one of the lowest points.

Those low points fueled critics, who were always on hand to take potshots at the new head coach – though Foster admitted he wasn’t hugely shocked by the attention.

“None of that surprised me. When you’re a head coach anywhere you live in that space. I always felt accountable when I was with the All Blacks the last eight years. Does it ramp up? Yes it does.

“I probably got used to it because when I got appointed there were a few people who decided I wasn’t the right person for the job and they’ve been reasonably relentless in saying that whenever they can. That hasn’t changed, so it’s not a surprise to me.

"My job is to absorb all that and make sure I don’t get hung up on it and focus on making this team better and better.”


The year clearly didn’t pan out the way Foster anticipated – in more ways than one – and the new head coach is looking forward to sinking his teeth back into the national set-up next season.

“My prevailing emotion is I feel like we’ve just started,” he said.

“2020 certainly met my expectations for the nature and challenge of the job. There’s no doubt from a personal side I know it’s a massive role with this team and this country so that part didn’t disappoint.”

Sards wrote: ↑Thu Aug 11, 2022 6:10 pm Australia has our number. There's something to learn from that.

Grandpa wrote: ↑Sat Aug 13, 2022 12:11 pm Bump...

Please put us out of our misery

Sards wrote: ↑Sat Aug 13, 2022 2:12 pm Henry reckons you biatches should stop whining. It's not the New Zealand way

Ymx wrote: ↑Sat Aug 13, 2022 12:19 pm
Today is the day grandpa

I can feel it in my bones.

Ymx wrote: ↑Sat Aug 13, 2022 12:19 pm

Grandpa wrote: ↑Sat Aug 13, 2022 12:11 pm Bump...

Please put us out of our misery

Today is the day grandpa

I can feel it in my bones.

I think we are the opposite of “cape crusaders” today.

Where are you based btw? Is it up North somewhere??

Guy Smiley wrote: ↑Sun Aug 14, 2022 2:31 amCaleb Clark... jesus. That missed tackle was a howler. He seems to struggle to find good field placement,.

Gumboot wrote: ↑Sun Aug 14, 2022 3:51 am

Guy Smiley wrote: ↑Sun Aug 14, 2022 2:31 amCaleb Clark... jesus. That missed tackle was a howler. He seems to struggle to find good field placement,.

His defence is woeful - just so casual and clueless. His lack of commitment and aggression is really concerning.

And call me old-fashioned, but I rather like our test wings to score tries. To be deadly finishers who turn half-chances into five-pointers. Clarke couldn't even score from 10 metres out with acres of space and only a Saffer lock in front of him. Sure he can break the line, but then he either runs away from his support or falls over himself.

Just for comparison, our best previous left wings during the pro era all got off to rip-roaring starts: in his first seven tests, Lomu scored 7 tries, Sivivatu scored 9, Savea 10 and Rokocoko 11... Clarke has one.

But most of the Kiwi rugby hacks seem to love him for some reason.

Guy Smiley wrote: ↑Sun Aug 14, 2022 4:14 am To be fair, that succession of wings is just precociously ridiculous

I don't get the love for him either. ALB was on the sidelines for yesterday's NPC game with Waikato. He looked to be involved with some sort of role with them, wearing the gear.

Kiwias wrote: ↑Sun Aug 14, 2022 4:24 am

Guy Smiley wrote: ↑Sun Aug 14, 2022 4:14 am To be fair, that succession of wings is just precociously ridiculous

I don't get the love for him either. ALB was on the sidelines for yesterday's NPC game with Waikato. He looked to be involved with some sort of role with them, wearing the gear.

And Jack Goodhue came on for the last 20mins vs Waikato. Get the fitter of the two into the ABs and push R Ioane out to 11.