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'It hasn't excited me': All Blacks boss Ian Foster on New Zealand's midfield options

(Photos By Sam Barnes/Sportsfile via Getty Images and David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

All Blacks head coach Ian Foster has delivered his assessment on the candidates pushing for selection in New Zealand’s midfield on the All Blacks Podcast.

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The All Blacks’ midfield of the past two seasons has relied upon the experienced 2019 World Cup pair of Anton Lienert-Brown and Jack Goodhue, but both have had lengthy stints on the sidelines at different times due to injury.

That opened the way for Blues wing-turned-centre Rieko Ioane to push for more time at centre, a positional shift Foster revealed he has been impressed by after watching the growth in Ioane’s game as a midfielder.

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The Breakdown | Sky Sport NZ | Episode 15

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The Breakdown | Sky Sport NZ | Episode 15

“It’s always hard selecting the All Blacks,” Foster told the All Blacks Podcast of his upcoming squad selection for the July test series against Ireland.

“It’s never easy. You know how much people want it. We had a lot of injuries and disruptions last year in our midfield.

“We had Anton, who’s the most experienced guy, he didn’t play much last year in the Rugby Championship, he had hamstring issues, he’s coming back and been injured again.

“Really pleasing for us is the massive growth in Rieko Ioane the last 12 months. We’ve had some great conversations [in the past]. He thinks he’s a 13 playing wing and I think he’s a wing playing 13, but the good thing is that people grow.

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“He’s learned some things about playing at 13. I thought he finished the year strongly for us and he’s really taken his game to different level from what I’ve seen so far in Super Rugby, so I’m excited by that.”

Ioane has formed a strong midfield combination with former NRL superstar Roger Tuivasa-Sheck at the Blues as they have locked up the number one seed heading into this week’s Super Rugby Pacific quarter-finals.

On Tuivasa-Sheck’s transition to rugby, Foster said he was pleased with what he has seen and that he was keen to see how the 2018 Dally M Medallist plays over the remainder of the season through the playoffs.

“We are pleased with Roger Tuivasa-Sheck’s growth, particularly defensively he looks reasonably settled. Doesn’t mean he’s getting everything right, but he looks reasonably settled,” Foster said.

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“He’s certainly good on the carry stuff, he’s probably still learning how to link and get the passing game. I’m not sure the state of the kicking game because I haven’t seen it yet.

“I know he’s an outstanding guy, he’s doing a great job at the Blues, we’ve had some connections with him and I know he’s in a great spot.

“We’ve just got to look at his progress and particularly the next four or five weeks will be crucial.”

One of the more radical midfield options on the table is Jordie Barrett, who was from fullback to second-five moved halfway into the season by the Hurricanes.

Foster said he has been watching with interest, but noted that the value of Barrett as a fullback cannot be discounted, saying the 25-year-old was a key performer for the All Blacks in 2021 and brings exactly what they need at No 15.

“Jordie, well, we’ve watched with interest him playing at 12. Look, to be honest, it hasn’t excited me that he’s going into there, but that’s okay,” Foster said.

“The way I see it is, he’s played 12 before, he quite enjoys it, it stimulates him, that’s great.

“I’m interested to see what it is, whether it’s an option for us long-term because it might become one, but I guess the clue that I’d give you is that, I thought he was one of our best All Blacks last year.

“His goal-kicking, his high ball stuff, kicking, if you start thinking about World Cups, France, big stadiums, low-risk teams playing, then you have to have a back three that defuses high balls, has a kicking game and is strong defensively.

“He ticks those boxes. I still love him as a 15, but are we willing to consider some option at 12? Well, yes we are.”

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Shane 905 days ago

Foster still wants to play people out of position,and also doesint even know his best combinations anywhere in the team,hes still talking its all learnings well we are running out of time too,only person out of postion is foster,i want joe as head coach,and maybe we will progress to become great again,and not continue going backwards,under his way of thinking,and no way is cane,papalli and ardie the best loose trio like really

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JW 3 hours ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Ok, managed to read the full article..

... New Zealand’s has only 14 and the professional season is all over within four months. In France, club governance is the responsibility of an independent organisation [the Ligue Nationale de Rugby or LNR] which is entirely separate from the host union [the Fédération Française de Rugby or FFR]. Down south New Zealand Rugby runs the provincial and the national game.

That is the National Provincial Championship, a competition of 14 representative union based teams run through the SH international window and only semi professional (paid only during it's running). It is run by NZR and goes for two and a half months.


Super Rugby is a competition involving 12 fully professional teams, of which 5 are of New Zealand eligibility, and another joint administered team of Pacific Island eligibility, with NZR involvement. It was a 18 week competition this year, so involved (randomly chosen I believe) extra return fixtures (2 or 3 home and away derbys), and is run by Super Rugby Pacific's own independent Board (or organisation). The teams may or may not be independently run and owned (note, this does not necessarily mean what you think of as 'privately owned').


LNR was setup by FFR and the French Government to administer the professional game in France. In New Zealand, the Players Association and Super Rugby franchises agreed last month to not setup their own governance structure for professional rugby and re-aligned themselves with New Zealand Rugby. They had been proposing to do something like the English model, I'm not sure how closely that would have been aligned to the French system but it did not sound like it would have French union executive representation on it like the LNR does.

In the shaky isles the professional pyramid tapers to a point with the almighty All Blacks. In France the feeling for country is no more important than the sense of fierce local identity spawned at myriad clubs concentrated in the southwest. Progress is achieved by a nonchalant shrug and the wide sweep of nuanced negotiation, rather than driven from the top by a single intense focus.

Yes, it is pretty much a 'representative' selection system at every level, but these union's are having to fight for their existence against the regime that is NZR, and are currently going through their own battle, just as France has recently as I understand it. A single focus, ala the French game, might not be the best outcome for rugby as a whole.


For pure theatre, it is a wonderful article so far. I prefer 'Ntamack New Zealand 2022' though.

The young Crusader still struggles to solve the puzzle posed by the shorter, more compact tight-heads at this level but he had no problem at all with Colombe.

It was interesting to listen to Manny during an interview on Maul or Nothing, he citied that after a bit of banter with the All Black's he no longer wanted one of their jersey's after the game. One of those talks was an eye to eye chat with Tamaiti Williams, there appear to be nothing between the lock and prop, just a lot of give and take. I thought TW angled in and caused Taylor to pop a few times, and that NZ were lucky to be rewarded.

f you have a forward of 6ft 8ins and 145kg, and he is not at all disturbed by a dysfunctional set-piece, you are in business.

He talked about the clarity of the leadership that helped alleviate any need for anxiety at the predicaments unfolding before him. The same cannot be said for New Zealand when they had 5 minutes left to retrieve a match winning penalty, I don't believe. Did the team in black have much of a plan at any point in the game? I don't really call an autonomous 10 vehicle they had as innovative. I think Razor needs to go back to the dealer and get a new game driver on that one.

Vaa’i is no match for his power on the ground. Even in reverse, Meafou is like a tractor motoring backwards in low gear, trampling all in its path.

Vaa'i actually stops him in his tracks. He gets what could have been a dubious 'tackle' on him?

A high-level offence will often try to identify and exploit big forwards who can be slower to reload, and therefore vulnerable to two quick plays run at them consecutively.

Yes he was just standing on his haunches wasn't he? He mentioned that in the interview, saying that not only did you just get up and back into the line to find the opposition was already set and running at you they also hit harder than anything he'd experienced in the Top 14. He was referring to New Zealands ultra-physical, burst-based Super style of course, which he was more than a bit surprised about. I don't blame him for being caught out.


He still sent the obstruction back to the repair yard though!

What wouldn’t the New Zealand rugby public give to see the likes of Mauvaka and Meafou up front..

Common now Nick, don't go there! Meafou showed his Toulouse shirt and promptly got his citizenship, New Zealand can't have him, surely?!?


As I have said before with these subjects, really enjoy your enthusiasm for their contribution on the field and I'd love to see more of their shapes running out for Vern Cotter and the like styled teams.

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