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It was put up or shut up for a few All Blacks at Ellis Park
So now our sainted All Blacks are fairly and squarely behind their coach.
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Well, where were they last week? What about the two games before that or the last two of last season?
Did they not back him then?
They win one game and suddenly they’re all Ian Foster fanatics? Spare me.
Look, I don’t know what happened to South Africa. I don’t know why they dropped Trevor Nyakane or relegated Malcolm Marx to the bench. I don’t know what to make of their crazy selections and haphazard substitutions and wonder if there are political imperatives at play.
More than anything I can’t, for the life of me, understand why they sought to beat the All Blacks at their own game at Ellis Park.
Maybe they got drunk on praise, maybe they thought they were unbeatable. But before All Blacks fans get too giddy on the back of one win themselves, I want to say that I think this was a game that the Springboks gave away.
I like the boring Boks. I don’t want to see them passing the ball and trying to create line breaks. I can’t believe they went away from what worked so well at Mbombela.
But back to our lot.
Good on them. You’re always a chance in a two-horse race and the All Blacks took theirs. Well done.
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But are we honestly trying to pretend that all’s right in the world again and that Ian Foster is a visionary with a platform to now plot a path to Rugby World Cup glory?
It was put up or shut up for a few All Blacks at Ellis Park. Careers were on the line, not least the coach’s, and the team played pretty well.
But are we so starved of success that we think one game obliterates the memory of all the clobberings that led up to it?
I stand to be corrected, but I think that if New Zealand Rugby (NZR) had a willing and able replacement for Foster, he’d be in charge by now.
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It might turn out that NZR are able to talk someone into taking the job, although you have to have doubts about their powers of persuasion.
The public hear and read media complaints about NZR and yawn. An unhappy journalist? Who cares?
But these past few weeks have given fans an insight into what journalists deal with year after year. Little of NZR’s business has ever been done in public – let alone its dirty washing aired – until now.
Well tell me, dear rugby enthusiast, how do you reckon Mark Robinson and company are going? Impressed so far?
They’re in danger of making Foster a sympathetic, even heroic, figure at this rate. I mean Robinson really couldn’t do more to undermine Foster if he tried.
You’d hardly back NZR to run a chook raffle, let alone a multi-billion-dollar business.
I just want to touch on Foster a minute and the “vicious’’ personal criticism he feels he’s been subjected to.
It’s my view that Foster came into the All Blacks’ head coaching role believing he was entitled to the same respect his predecessor Steve Hansen received.
I think he feels he hasn’t been afforded that. That unfair questions about his coaching capabilities have been raised and that there’s been a level of scrutiny placed upon his tenure that didn’t exist on Hansen’s watch.
Even previous media allies have, in Foster’s mind, cruelly turned against him.
Well, respect is earned, just as wins and losses are too. You are your record, when it comes to being head coach, and Foster’s record is a poor one.
Hansen didn’t have to put up with this rubbish, because his teams won. And won well.
Is Foster a potential victim of dissatisfaction with NZR and the “process’’ that saw him appointed coach? Sure. But that wouldn’t have been an issue if Foster’s team had won more often.
Hell, they’ve just won a game now – following an historic run of defeats – and people are suggesting he deserves to hang onto his job.
Winning solves everything and Foster hasn’t done enough of that as a head coach.
If he feels pointing that out is tantamount to picking on him, then perhaps he’s in the wrong profession.
As for the players? They front on the field for the first time in what feels like months and they want to tell us who should be head coach?
Wasn’t recommending the removal of assistants John Plumtree and Brad Mooar enough of an ego trip for them?
To go back to the top, if they are in such strong support of Ian Foster, why didn’t they bother to show it sooner? Why wait till the man’s head was on the chopping block?
The quicker NZR start showing some actual leadership, the quicker we can move on from these questions that continue to hover over the team.
what moaners and whingers, thats why your not allblack coach..moan and hide in your lounge seats..cry babies..lets rip em Fosie!!!!!
People gave short memories. Wasn't the invincible Robertson beaten twice at home, and once on the road, this year? He didn't look so flash then. Also, does NZ really want to see an All Black XV fielding 12 Crusaders?
Foster is in charge of the backs at the moment just saying
Finally someone writing the reality - while I am a die hard AB fan I am not stupid enough to believe the sudden hype about the AB. Yes they played better (couldn’t play worse) and deserved their victory. But let’s not recognize that we were helped by the Bok selections, weird change in gameplan, I’ll timed substitutions and run of the ball - we were lucky and rode our luck.
But it makes me laugh when the players line up to support Foster. They seem to forget the mess he has created since 2020.
Facts are Foster would still have Plumtree & Mooar if he had not been put under pressure - our forwards would continue to under perform and our attack would continue to be a disjointed mess
I just hope the NZRU recognize they made a mistake with the continuity thing 2004-2019 covering Henry-Hansen- Foster was too long - they must have the courage to clear out and refresh all aspects of the team
The Boks were clearly unfit at the end of the game, especially the last ten minutes, I cannot believe Hendrikse put up another bomb, they should have gone the forward phase play truck it up, pick and drive and gone for another penalty.
Then Rieko broke down the wing and not even golden boy Am could stop him in his tracks. The Boks looked gassed from then on, and played into the AB's hands. That Havilli try reminded me of the Messam try at Ellis in 2013. I counted the ball going through the hands of 13 of the 15 man team. Actually it was akin to the Crotty try vs Ireland in Dublin also in 2013.
I have followed this crisis in NZ about Foster. I'm not a Kiwi, but a lover of rugby. Firstly, what an epic test match on Saturday. We lost but it was great to see the All Blacks playing better. What has changed in the last couple of weeks?
The AB's have a new forward coach, and the difference he makes was clear to see at Ellis Park.
I feel that the Boks lost this one rather than the All Blacks winning it. The All Blacks used their opportunities, the Boks not.
Should Foster go? That is a difficult one. I saw an All Black team on Saturday, that played like we all know they can.
Will the new coach make such a huge difference?
Tough one to decide.
Well done All Blacks.
May the rivalry continue.
The old adage "one match....." applies. All one can say is "it was more coherent and there were less simple handling errors" Add to that some strange Bok selection and replacement decisions.
Could it be that the ABs are no longer the shoe in they were, maybe 2/3 seasons ago?
Man, nearly every paragraph of this article is worthy of an eye roll. An unhappy journalist, who cares? Indeed.
I am not a fan of Fozzie but I can't condone personal criticism of him. I think any justified critique of the AB's and the coach is only right, this is the All Blacks and we hold them to a higher standard than any other team. But some of the personal attacks on social media and some of the obvious agendas of the media (especially the journalist who wrote this article) are just not on. I hope that they replace Fozzie with Robertson, I think that is the right move for the AB's but if Fozzie ends up being the man then by all means critique but all agendas and personal vendettas should stop.
My guess is Foster will survive - for 2 reasons you have offered - weak NZR management and no one wants the chalice under the current conditions.
Not surprised the team is behind Foster as many of them should be former ABs and its Foster's misguided loyalty keeping them on the payroll. How many props have been selected before we found a few capable of doing the job?
Foster also enjoys the unenviable distinction of selecting more players out of position than any of his predecessors.
Prediction? Foster stays, ABs beat Aust and Arg, ABs go to World Cup under misconception they can outplay Nth Hemisphere. Flogged in 1st round.