'You always hold your breath': Ian Foster reacts to Barrett verdict

Ian Foster had one word to describe Scott Barrett’s green light to play in the Rugby World Cup opener against France after a red card against the Springboks: “Pleased”.

Who could blame the coach? Good news is hard to come by after suffering a mammoth loss in his side’s final warm-up match, where he also lost first-choice prop Tyrel Lomax to a gruesome short-term injury.

The prospect of losing his in-form lock was especially troubling for the coach as he and his selectors had opted to risk taking just four locks in total to the tournament, meaning Barrett’s absence in addition to Brodie Retallick’s injury would leave just two second rowers available for their opening game of the campaign.

The decision not to sanction Barrett was due to the nature of the red card being handed out for a second yellow, rather than any foul play that merited more severe punishment.

The judiciary on Tuesday morning concluded that “his ordering off in the RWC 2023 Warm Up match against South Africa on 25 August 2023 was sufficient”.

Barrett received his first yellow card as a result of repeated infringements from his side, Referee Matthew Carley decided he had seen enough of the ill-discipline and Barrett’s penalty came directly following a warning from the match official.

The second yellow was for a reckless clearout on Malcolm Marx, the judiciary found the yellow card appropriate and no further action was required.

“We were pretty confident going in,” Foster told 1News at their base at the Adidas headquarters in Bavaria, Germany.

“It was a two-yellow [red] card – it was a technical red. We had a fair hearing like we always feel we do, and we came out with a great result.

“You always hold your breath, but it was nice, and particularly for Scott. He felt bad about the whole situation. It’s not easy being red-carded and seeing the team concede three lineout maul tries in the second half in an area he takes a lot of pride in.”

Foster further emphasised his confidence in the outcome while also underlining the need to “respect the process”.

“Judiciaries – you always hold your breath because you’ve got a lot of planning to do, and you’ve got two plans and Scott’s clearly important to us.”

The dominance that the Springboks enjoyed in the match only rubbed salt in the wound as Barrett was relegated to the sideline.

Barrett’s career-best form in 2023 will be essential if New Zealand is to bounce back against the World Cup hosts in Paris, a monumental challenge considering the French team’s form and the 80,000-strong hostile crowd that will line the stands of Stade de France.

Foster says he had a plan B in place in case Barrett was suspended but laughed off an inquiry into what that entailed, saying he had some notes scribbled down on his iPad but was clearly relieved none of them would see the light of day.