Ian Foster says he expects to be All Blacks coach for the remainder of the year and beyond, though the resigned look in his eyes as he prepared to jump on the plane home from Johannesburg suggested he was well aware it was a process that would play out beyond his control.
Foster spoke to the Kiwi media on tour with the team just before departing their Sandton hotel around Sunday lunchtime in the republic, and it was clear New Zealand Rugby chief executive Mark Robinson’s ever-so-bizarre press conference earlier that day had filtered back to him.
Robinson notably failed to back Foster in the wake of the All Blacks’ 35-23 victory over the Springboks at Ellis Park on Saturday evening (early Sunday NZT), talked about wanting people to “get home around their families”, confirmed there would be a review process informing a board meeting later this week and made it clear the head coach’s job was very much on the line.
Christiaan Kotze/Photosport
All Blacks coach Ian Foster and halfback Aaron Smith share a tender moment after the victory over the Boks.
If you were a betting man, you would not empty the account on the coach keeping his gig, even if there had been a major breakthrough made in the Ellis Park result, which snapped a three-test losing streak, retained the Freedom Cup and threw the Rugby Championship race back wide open.
Everything Robinson said on Sunday, which was both not much and a lot, pointed to a process already being well under way to institute change at the top in the All Blacks, without him actually saying it. Maybe there’s a rethink, but the NZR chief was certainly offering no olive branches his embattled coach’s way.
“He’s got a job to do, but I’m about to hop on a plane, go home, and probably mow the lawns around the pool. I’ll be giving feedback, no doubt,” said Foster. “My expectation is I’m the All Black head coach and [next] weekend I’ll be going to Christchurch and assembling for a team until I’m told anything different.”
Foster said he was unsure what the review process entailed (notable if only because All Blacks are never put under the microscope two matches into a campaign), but added, “what I do know is it’s people’s job to reflect on where we’re at and to make decisions. I’m sure I’ll get told about that”.
There is plenty of speculation swirling around discord between the All Blacks and NZ Rugby – a claim Robinson emphatically denied on his call – and Foster’s answer was telling when asked if he felt he had the backing of his bosses.
“I certainly feel I’ve got the support and backing of the All Blacks and I believe I’ve got the support … I think NZ Rugby … I guess there are processes they want to go through to categorically say that. What I do know is to coach this team you have to have categoric support.”
KIM LUDBROOK/EPA via Photosport
Sam Cane and the All Blacks retained the Freedom Cup after victory over South Africa at Ellis Park.
What he does know is there is a sort of default backs-to-the-wall mode he’s found himself in this year.
“You get used to it, and that’s sad. And I get used to the personal side, but that’s the nature of the job. They’re the distractions I ask the players to put to one side when we go out to a test match … and in all honesty I think the playing group has been demanding that of me – stop sulking, get on with it and do your job. Sometimes the answer is in the simplicity of that.”
Foster, otherwise, was buoyant ahead of departure after an Ellis Park victory he likes to think could be a “launching pad” for this group, as well as a statement of his credentials. His team improved across the board in their best display under his watch.
“I saw an All Blacks team play with a lot of pride and reach the levels that we really want to get to,” he said. “I’m pleased with the way we dealt with the challenges we had, and pleased the team is growing through a bit of adversity. We wish the road was smooth all the time, but unfortunately life does throw you a few curveballs, and it’s how you respond.
“You look at three [losses] in a row and that’s adversity a lot of this group, including me, haven’t had. Our mindset was about trying to move on and grow the team. We’ve got an absolute goal for a World Cup at the end of next year and in many ways this needs to be a launching pad for that. I’m not resentful about anything that’s happened the last three weeks. I think we’re using it the right way to fuel a team that’s united, has a growth mindset and wants to play for this country.”
And, of course, life goes on. So late on Saturday night, while he supped a quiet red wine and mused on an eventful night at the Boks’ fortress, his mind soon turned to the next foe, Argentina.
So he slipped away early, to take in the second half of the Pumas’ 48-17 victory over the Wallabies, and start plotting the next challenge. A coach’s work is never done. Until it is.