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Ian Foster: 'You kid yourself that we were robbed'
By Ned Lester
More than one year on from the Rugby World Cup final in Paris, former All Blacks head coach Ian Foster says he can’t help but continue to revisit the game in his head.
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The Test brought a 12-year All Blacks coaching career – the final four of which were spent as head coach – to a dramatic close for Foster, who succeeded Sir Steve Hansen as head coach of the side following the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
Having now reunited with Hansen at Toyota Verblitz in Japan, Foster says he has moved on from his tumultuous head coaching tenure with the team, although certain moments from the final do continue to haunt him.
“You can tell by my body language that yes, I do go back to it. You can’t not go back to it,” Foster told DSPN with Martin Devlin after shuffling in his chair while he searched for the words to describe his feelings about the match.
“I go back to it with a lot of pride with where the team got to, and to get to that final on the big stage and get so close, I was actually so proud with that but also incredibly disappointed that we didn’t cross the line.
“I like to focus more on things that we could control, things that maybe we could have done a little bit better and so I think you kid yourself that we were robbed you end up becoming a little bit cynical and you end up blaming other people for it.
“So, for me, we did what we had to do but we weren’t quite good enough to get the result and that’s the game. It’s probably what World Cup finals are about, they’re about tension and drama and you’d have to say I delivered that pretty well.”
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It was indeed a match not lacking in drama as New Zealand were reduced to 14 men but continued to fight tooth and nail into the dying moments before succumbing to a one-point defeat.
Foster rejecting the notion his side were robbed is in stark contrast with Steve Hansen’s view, who on the same podcast last week claimed: “This is a team that should have won the World Cup, they were robbed of the World Cup as far as I’m concerned with some poor decisions that were out of their control which cost them a World Cup.”
Foster’s fate was already decided despite his team eliminating World No. 1 ranked Ireland in the quarter-final and pummeling Argentina to book their ticket to rugby’s grandest stage. Scott Robertson was named as his replacement seven months ahead of the World Cup.
Having taken some time for himself in 2024, Foster has now returned to an assistant coaching role after turning down international coaching opportunities.
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“Look, I love coaching. I gave myself a decent window of time after the World Cup just to wind down and figure out what was next. I thought club land was the way to go rather than looking at the international stage. Particularly with a real desire not to coach against the All Blacks at least for the near future.
“That’s why I am where I am and not regretting it for a moment. I’m really enjoying the good people up thre, it’s a club that’s highly motivated.
“They haven’t won much in the past and they see this as a real opportunity for them so I’m excited by their ambition.”
Both of these views can be held and remain equally valid.
One is talking 'matter of factly' in a constructive argument based way, the other is talking from the perspective of someone who believes they might be in the same situation again and need to focus on the controllables.
The thing with Foster is, unluck Rassie in this game, he still doesn't seem to realise the ref is someone you can exert control of or manipulate. Barnes is a shocker for that (not that most of the effective/decisive decisions were made by him).
I always wonder if the Springboks lost if Rassie would've made another video moaning about the refereeing like he did with the Lions tour. Well actually, there's no need to wonder, we all know he would've made that video 😅😅😅😅
I'm interested in what decisions you think might have gone against South Africa?
ABs were robbed by a weak referee and a TMO who the year before had redcarded them out of the Irish series, in the 2nd test.
Respect, Fozzie. You’re a man of integrity.
SA beat NZ by 35-7 on the eve of the tournament. Clearly superior. SA overcame a team in France that were also far superior to NZ. SA were flat and fatigued in the semi final against a rested England and they were even more tired in the final. NZ breezed a semi final team of the same standard as Wales.
Ireland and France can have some claims of unfairness with the draw pitting them at QF stage against treble champions with RWC finals and medals galore amongst their squads.
But nobody can argue with SAs victory.
If NZ had won, it would have just meant the dodgy draw won.
England almost bounced SA and would have been hammered in the final. We were that close to seeing the tournament draw turn the tournament to utter farce. SA had to win.
You are repeatedly reminded that South African players had played the least minutes of anyone in the knockouts. They were the fit and firing of anyone, save Marx injury. That you still fail to acknowledge this leaves me flummoxed with how such a nation was able to able to attain rank 1.
It would be more relevenat basing off an actual competition game the previous month, where the 2nd half was dead even.
An England with Ford being used to drop goal them to victory would have been unbeatable in this tournement.
Credit to Foster. Modern rugby culture is boring, with winners crowing and losers blaming, and too few fans, players and coaches embracing results, like adults.
The truth about red cards is that some teams find ways to avoid them, and others don't. None of Scotland, Australia and South Africa has had an RWC red card in over 25 years. How do you do that? Well, I am sure that it helps to bring in an experienced ref to advise the team, to train the players on tackle technique, and to select players that don't play too close to the edge.
It is true that a 2023 RWC final without the red card could have had a different outcome, but it is also true that NZ created an incident that many refs would call as a red card. They did not get away with it, which is not the same as being unfairly treated, much less being "robbed" (which arrogantly suggests that they had a right to the win).
Great to see Foster being sportsmanlike, despite a tough loss. Fair play.
That's not the truth at all, you're in fairtale territory. The only difference between those to types of teams, is luck.
That lie has been found out, with those teams previously sharing the kudos for working on discipline, now some of being the worst. It is simply a poor indignation of the quality, and easyness, of refereeing. Even the judiciary panel called Sam Cane, a liar.
One thing I will say to any South African readers, after watching a replay of the Final again to see how many tackles Frizell made, was that I viewed Frizells takedown of Bongi incorrectly. It having reviewed during that period, I had failed to watch the live footage, I had only analyzed the replays. Previously, I tried to defend Frizell for pulling out of the neck roll and, instead, accidentally falling on Bongi's leg. The angle that I saw live made be look closer and indeed, Frizell was indeed trying to level him off. As Bongi himself said afterwards "thank god for my NECK", because otherwise Frizells full weight would have done a lot more damage I'd imagine (which I think was his own point).
So previously I had critized the review officer for giving Cane a (incorrect) red card because he couldn't/didn't give one to Frizell. Now I can understand more where he was coming from. So mainly, I'd just like to apologize to and SAn's who I had tried to defend that situation of only deserving of a penalty for (if that), when in fact it was more deserving of a red than Sam Canes tackle imo.
I don't agree the 2023 final would have had a different outcome. SA were leading and in control when the incident happened. SA made a mistake by trying to manage the result thereafter... and nearly f-ed it up. That's all.
Foster seems to have a more realistic view on how things played out and it’s always more productive to look in the mirror first rather than point the finger elsewhere. Even if it is more difficult at times, so fair play to him for that.
How did you think their views differed?
He literally directly blamed the TMO and refereeing decisions in the Presser after the match leading to death threats against Wayne Barnes.
Why doesn't he acknowledge this in this interview?
Uh oh another clickbait headline for the frothing Saffas ready to bash their keyboards in anger and disgust, unless they fully read the entire article.
🤣 Son, trolling is a fine art and you're not even close to mastering it.
Who was first in line for the clickbait. Not a Saffa.