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'Joe Schmidt has been on my radar probably for a couple of years'

(Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

Ian Foster has explained why he has now asked Joe Schmidt to have greater involvement in coaching the All Blacks. The ex-Ireland boss originally agreed to come on board as an independent selector earlier this year when Grant Fox decided to step away. Due to covid issues in the lead-up to the Irish series, Schmidt helped out with some emergency coaching prior to the first Test before stepping away again as his selection role wasn’t due to start until after the three-game July series was over.

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Ahead of the two-game trip to South Africa, it was decided that Schmidt – who wasn’t travelling – would help out with opposition analysis as well as begin his All Blacks selector role. However, that involvement has now radically changed ahead of the round three Rugby Championship match at home to Argentina on August 27 in Christchurch.

Aside from rubber stamping Foster to continue as the All Blacks head coach through to the 2023 World Cup in France after last Saturday’s win over the Springboks put an end to five defeats in the previous six matches, the New Zealand Rugby media event in Auckland on Wednesday also confirmed the appointment of Schmidt as a full-time assistant coach.

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The former Manawatu player coached Ireland from 2013 through to their 2019 World Cup quarter-final defeat to the All Blacks in Tokyo and he now takes up a more central role in Foster’s backroom staff. “Just talking about the addition of Joe Schmidt, Joe Schmidt has been on my radar probably for a couple of years,” admitted Foster, explaining his latest staff alteration following the recent upheaval that saw Jason Ryan come on board with John Plumtree and Brad Mooar axed.

“We agreed at the start of this year that his role was to join us after the Irish series as an independent selector to replace Grant Fox and in addition, he was going to do some analysis of the opposition and work alongside me in the strategy area. He started that up after the Irish series.

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“Delighted with how that is going. We have got a great relationship with Joe and how that works and subsequently in conversations, we have now decided to move him from the computer room and actually put him on the park a little bit more. On the park, he is going to work alongside me and to a slightly lesser extent Stormy [Scott McLeod] in terms of how having a bit of an impact on the part with the attack part.”

For Foster, Wednesday was a day that few All Blacks fans believed would materialise until last weekend’s job-saving victory over the Springboks in Johannesburg. Rather than axing the head coach 13 months out from the start of the World Cup, he has now been given the go-ahead to take the team to the finals in France despite all the recent criticism that followed tour defeats to the Irish and the French, a home series loss to the Irish and then a bruising 16-point away loss to the Springboks before last Saturday’s riposte.

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“There was strong support from both Mark (Robinson, NZR CEO) and the board for us going forward,” enthused Foster, who was assistant coach to Steve Hansen before taking charge following the 2019 World Cup. “It has clearly been a difficult time.

“At the start of this campaign, we didn’t get what we wanted against Ireland and that created a lot of performance stress. That is part of my job and I expect to be grilled in that space and so through the last month, I have had a number of conversations about how we can grow our organisations and make sure we get the performance that we want on the park.

“We have made some changes and we are continuing to keep evaluating our group to make sure we have what we need going through to the World Cup. I am really delighted with where we have got to from today on.”

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7 Comments
k
karin 809 days ago

Loooooooove ALL BLACKS

r
ross 809 days ago

Amazing that Fosters been saved. He has made a meal of things. Suspect his contract is rock solid so never made sense to boot him. However, it seems to have made sense to boot most of his hand selected key assistants and replace them with some of the best brains in the NZ coaching stable. If they can pull off a RWC trophy, Foster owes them all his legacy. I’d be surprised if they can, but you never know. 13 months can be a long time.

J
Jamie 2 810 days ago

This whole NZR saga has been a bit of a mess from start to finish, the ''will Ian Foster remain the head coach or wont he?'' mantra, is not good PR for either CEO Mark Robinson, the NZR or the self appointed media caretakers of NZ rugby, who should have put the whole coaching issue to bed a lot earlier, Foster was chosen to take the AB's to the RWC, so Foster should fulfill that contract instead of the coaching staff and the AB's going through a constant process of review at a time when team confidence was already at a low ebb.
Removing Foster was never going to be a quick fix for a crisis of confidence, players needed certainty especially in the coming lead up to the RWC, and key players made their backing for Ian Foster very clear. If the All Blacks continue to show inconsistent form in the 2022 Rugby Championships and end of season tour, the team knows that their fate is in their own hands and it's not for NZR to decide.

G
George 810 days ago

No one is questioning Foster's other men in his group Scott McCloud and Andrew Strawbrisge what have they brought to the table over the past 2 years. Foster should've replaced them as well. Plumtree and Feek certainly got their marching orders for their respective areas but these two who were in charge of defense and attack technical adviser you gotta ask those questions of them as well.

B
Brett 810 days ago

Hopefully Schmidt will talk some sense into foster and get rid of cane

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Oh no, not him again? 3 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 3 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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