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Ian Foster warns his All Black side not to be ‘softened’
By PA
New Zealand boss Ian Foster has warned his players “not to get softened” by the acclaim which followed their thrilling World Cup win over Ireland ahead of a semi-final showdown with Argentina.
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The All Blacks booked a last-four spot by upsetting Andy Farrell’s men with a pulsating 28-24 victory in Paris.
New Zealand return to Stade de France on Friday evening and are red-hot favourites to progress to a final against either England or reigning champions South Africa.
Head coach Foster feels “being patted on the back” following a statement last-eight victory over the Irish derailed the Kiwis in the 2019 tournament and is eager to avoid history repeating itself.
“The best way to recover is to refocus really quickly on what the next challenge is and not to listen too much to any praise you’re given as a group for a performance,” said Foster, who was assistant to Steve Hansen four years ago when New Zealand lost to England in the semi-finals.
“Not to go down that path, not to get softened because everyone’s patting you on the back saying you played well.
“That’s not a good place to be as a team.
“I love the way the team has buckled down, we’ve redefined the challenge for us as a group, we’re not satisfied with where we are now and when you’re clear about your goal for the week the recovery comes along pretty quickly.
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“You know that if we’re not right on Friday night at Stade de France, it’s going to be a sad old night and we don’t want it to be like that.
“You get people talking to you about tomorrow and trying to take your eyes off today.
“In 2019 we probably didn’t stop being patted on the back after the quarter-final, hence some of my language today and we’re just trying to dial this back, keep things simple and let’s just worry about Friday.”
New Zealand’s starting XV shows two changes, with wing Mark Telea and lock Sam Whitelock in for Leicester Fainga’anuku and Brodie Retallick.
Telea was dropped for last weekend’s clash with Ireland due to a breach of team protocols.
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Foster says the 26-year-old, who has scored three tries in the tournament, has served his punishment.
“That’s the team we think is best for this week,” he said.
“Mark’s done his time. He made a mistake, he accepted what was happening.
“But you don’t linger in that space. He’s been our form winger through this tournament and we really have a lot of faith in him and believe he’s in a good place to play this game.
“It’s a chance for us to get Mark back on the park and I know he’s excited.”
Underdogs Argentina have won two of the past seven meetings between the nations, including a landmark first success on New Zealand soil – 25-18 in Christchurch – in last year’s Rugby Championship.
Foster is braced for a “heck of a game”.
“You’ve never heard us say we’re favourites,” he said. “We know that these games are do-or-die.
“It’s the best team on the night that wins it. We know Argentina has done that to us. We’re not buying into anything about favouritism or underdogs.
“They are perhaps an underrated team worldwide that has got a really rich history of perhaps overachieving at World Cups.
“They have done a fantastic job to get here at the same level as we are. It’s going to be a heck of a game.”
FFS is there not a single post from these journos that doesn't contain the reference “Andy Farrel’s men. Why not start with Rassies Men, Fozzies Men, Eddie's Men. My goodness can you see how stupid you all look. A national team is representative of a nation, not one person. “AF’s men” is no more, was never and shall never be. Get over it. Start writing decent or as we used to say here in SA, pay back the money.
While I certainly respect other teams and their achievements, at this point in time, I believe the All Blacks will win the cup. Each man is his own individual note and when you combine every position, aka note, you have created a symphony. To me, this is the best way I can explain it. I never take for granted that any team who makes it this far should be discounted, but this year, watching from Florida, USA; and with a very sore throat from yelling at my t.v. from the quarter finals, I just see a wonderful dance and song from the All Blacks. So no, I won’t wish you luck for the semi’s, trust me, you don’t need luck, YOU’VE GOT GAME!
Foster really hasn’t a clue. England were a far superior team than NZ last year. NZ were lucky that they even scored 7 and but for some disallowed tries and sloppy finishing England would have put 40-50 on them. But the real reason apparently was that NZ lost concentration after winning the quarter.
Can these arrogant guys EVER admit another team may actually be better than them?
Note he has also defended Rieko Ioane taunting the Irish crowd last Saturday. Any misguided friendship or respect Ireland had for boastful NZ is well over now. Anyone but New Zealand, even England.