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Ian Foster on who All Blacks would prefer to play in quarters
By Finn Morton
When asked about whether the All Blacks have a preference on who they play in the Rugby World Cup quarterfinals, coach Ian Foster offered a simple reply after New Zealand’s 73-nil win over Uruguay.
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“I think you know my answer to that, no,” the coach said with a steady smirk on his face, before pausing for a moment. The All Blacks have been written off by many rugby fans ahead of the knockout stage, but the players themselves “fancy” their chances.
New Zealand opened their World Cup campaign with a disappointing loss to hosts France. It was their first-ever loss during the pool stage in tournament history.
But the All Blacks bounced back with three clinical victories to secure their spot in the knockout stage of the competition. New Zealand are quarterfinal-bound.
While the All Blacks have locked in their place, they’ll have to wait another couple of days to see whether they play Ireland, South Africa or Scotland in just over one week’s time.
“I don’t want to put myself under any stress in the next three days,” coach Foster said after the big win over Uruguay.
“What will be, will be, and people will theorise what they do. We will go away and have a nice glass of wine in our hotel tonight and celebrate being there. Looking forward to recovery tomorrow.
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“Clearly we have a plan for whoever it may be. At this stage we are excited about us being there, it is our first goal achieved and let’s get into the next one.”
By coach Foster’s own admission, the All Blacks will probably finish second in pool play for the first time. Les Bleus are in control of their own destiny and simply needs to beat Italy on Friday to lock in pole position.
The All Blacks would probably book a date with world No. 1 Ireland, barring a stunning upset loss to Six Nations rivals Scotland on Saturday evening.
“No, I think we will make the assumption we will finish second,” Foster added. “The Italy-France game is important now and it will be interesting to see how teams respond.
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“The great thing about the draw from many perspectives is that first or second, we know when you have a draw and the top four in the world are due to play each other in a quarter-final, you know whatever happens it is going to be a monster game.
“Nothing is going to surprise us now and we will be ready for it.”
Foster should have blooded new players after 2019.I am a kiwi but the AB'S have too many has beens, taking players to the World Cup with injuries .WTF. Honestly I hope any Country except NZ ,SA,England WIN.
No finlay Christie in QF
Doesn’t matter who they play the ABs are going to make it to the final, who they play is to be determined by the second QF. Ireland are in for a rude awakening
IT WOULD BE BETTER FOR THE AB'S TO PLAY SAF.IN THE END IRELAND TO WIN THE WORLD CUP
Ian is a very cool likable dude - check out an Exclusive interview on Foster st The Front Row daily show on You Tube
I did exactly what he did last night had a glass of wine to celebrate our quarter final placing - we have 9 days to prepare and recover before we play next SA have the jump on France with 5 more days of prep and that could be very telling But I tell you what it cant be easy being in that SA squad with Erasmus bringing players in and out and getting his backs to buy into a 7 - 1 bench - there seems to be way to much meddling micro managing - how do they focus with him there and now only in SA theres a chance they may not play the quarter under their national flag or have their anthem played because theyre not up to speed with Wada document updates geez what a bloody mess - the hurdles these players have to jump through
NZ havent proven themselves with problem solving in presssure games they lost to France I wont count SA loss - NZ werent interested in that friendly - didnt want it - just a training run but a costly one with a ban and stalled momentum but they have it back in spades - we could have 3 world cup winners on the bench thats huge now do we select LF thats the big talking point on wing and at 12 with his pick and go approach operating as another forward as Nonu did and taking care of Bundee - I say we should but who gets the chop ? It has to be ALB doesmt it and I must say hes been playing well or do we drop Ioane completely thats a real possibility Start ALB then bring LF into 12 - we need 5 forwards Roigard will come on with Mckenzie so look out for their amazing synergy and high octane razzle dazzle
Do they have Cane on the bench does Papalli have the goods hes a lot faster - we need cohesion in the forwards to match Ireland and win the game with our backs so its Cane to start defense is key Papalli on the bench shame we cant find a spot for Blackadder or can we ?
I’m pretty sure Foster and the AB's would opt for another RC type stiff training game against SA. They know exactly what they have to do against SA and with their backline on song (whoever gets selected) they will win easily. I can’t see it happening so Ireland it will be.
Play McKenzie and your be world champions
Please be Ireland. That would be the hardest game and most epic victory.
I’m sure that the kiwi mouthpiece Delon will have the answers!! 😂
Scotland are a very good team but they simply don’t have the depth and skills to beat Ireland if they play adequately. I am hoping Scotland win and Ireland score 4 tries. That would be hilarious, albeit unlikely.
AB’s will beat SA the next time they meet them. Beat them when it counted in the RC but did not commit at the Twickenham festival game.
I was hoping for an Ireland-AB final but very unlikely. AB’s can beat them on a good day but they took SA apart and they have a better understanding of AB weaknesses and how to beat us than we do of them. What elements of a plan do you think we have?