Ian Foster, Head Coach of the All Blacks Photo: Hannah Peters
Analysis - It's over, and not just for the Rugby World Cup and the All Black season. This is the end of an era: fascinating, frustrating and far-reaching. You would have thought that anything less than returning with the World Cup wouldn't rectify the reputation of Ian Foster's All Blacks, but after the dramatic way the weekend's final unfolded, it feels like the side will be greeted with a pat on the back for a good effort - a far cry from the way things were looking not that long ago.
How does it really stack up?
Let's start with the good, because there's plenty of it.
The Bledisloe and TRC have been secured
One thing you can't fault is Foster's record against the Wallabies and The Rugby Championship. The All Blacks have made no secret of the fact that Bledisloe Cup is the next most important bit of silverware they want to secure, and that's exactly what they've done for four years. In fact, it's often been in convincing fashion. Foster has the record for the biggest ever victory over the Aussies, and ended with nine wins, one loss and one draw against them in four years. Some of those wins were a bit closer than they should have been, but they all count.
Getting through Covid
When you weigh up just how much of an effect the pandemic had on even the most minute aspects of day to day life, it can't be understated how impressive it was that the All Blacks managed to assemble and get themselves into fighting shape for the start of Foster's reign. Because of the stripped back 2020 schedule, the following year was bloated with fixtures and Foster was really handed a very hard task that culminated with tests in Dublin and Paris. Bear in mind the Northern Hemisphere sides didn't have to face anywhere near as much disruption, their seasons weren't shunted around as much and while there were no crowds, test match schedules carried on as per usual. Just to put it in perspective: the All Blacks' stint overseas in 2021 lasted from early August to late November - the longest time away from home since the tour to South Africa in 1976.
Campaign manager
If you were to have offered All Black fans a one point loss in the World Cup final at the start of this year, it would have been accepted. To be honest, if you'd predicted that only three weeks ago, it would have been hard to find many who would have agreed. Foster deserves immense credit for running the All Blacks as a tournament team - overcoming an early setback to have them peaking at the right time. It culminated in the team's best performance of the Foster era: the epic 28-24 win over Ireland in the quarter-final.
New Zealand's right wing Will Jordan runs with the ball to score a try during the France 2023 Rugby World Cup quarter-final match between Ireland and New Zealand at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, on the outskirts of Paris, on 14 October, 2023. Photo: AFP/ Franck Fife
Good selections
Ever since Will Jordan started scoring a try a test and being one of the few All Blacks that would be automatically picked for a World XV, it's been easy to forget his test debut was actually one of the most forgettable of all time. Literally, that is - Jordan was knocked out after being on the field for a matter of minutes. Foster has consistently put him on the wing, despite Jordan playing fullback in Super Rugby, and reaped the rewards. Ethan Blackadder has the makings of a future All Black great, while Cam Roigard hasn't looked out of place since his somewhat early call-up.
Feeling the love
While the reaction from the public has been often vorciferous, you can't deny that the loyalty of his players has always been something Foster can safely count on. Whatever you think about the outcome of last year's dramatic flip flop by New Zealand Rugby on Foster's employment status, it was very much influenced by the All Blacks themselves.
There's no escaping the fact that it wasn't all plain sailing, though.
Discipline
It came to an unbelievable climax during the final, when the All Black captain was sent off, but really the All Blacks' propensity for foul play has been the worst part of their game. That ultimately comes down to the players, but the need to keep 15 men on the field at all times clearly hasn't been stressed enough at a coaching level. Maybe more emphasis on teaching them how to tackle legally, rather than how to run a game with a man down would have been a better approach.
Referee Wayne Barnes shows a red card to New Zealand captain Sam Cane during the Rugby World Cup final between the All Blacks and South Africa at Stade de France. Photo: Andrew Cornaga/www.photosport.nz
Unwanted history
Pandemic or not, the All Black brand relies on winning. If they don't, they are just another rugby team, so losses to Argentina, Ireland, a record defeat to the Springboks and a first pool loss in the World Cup have affected that brand quite considerably.
It's not so personal
Foster raised eyebrows during the nadir of 2022 when he implied that the criticism he was getting from the media was personal in nature. It wasn't. He got that wrong and it's really hard to see how, given that pretty much everything written about him as a coach was prefaced with a disclaimer saying what a good guy he is. It came off as someone lashing out and trying to take the moral high ground.
Going AWOL
One of the most important aspects of professional sport is fronting, win or lose. The now infamous no-show after the Irish series loss last year was a real stain on his reputation, because it broke the fourth wall between the fraught relationship between the All Blacks and the media and sent it tumbling into the public forum. Suddenly, the loss the night before wasn't the main story, it was Foster's inability to explain it to the fans.
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck gets on the field during the Bledisloe Cup/Rugby Championship Photo: Brett Phibbs
Not so good selections
Now, this is not because these guys aren't good players, it's just the circumstances under which they were selected. Pita Gus Sowakula came in, did nothing wrong on the field (but maybe something off it), then was out in the cold from test rugby. Most egregiously, it now means he's ineligible for Fijian selection for the foreseeable future. Meanwhile, we found out something we already knew about Roger Tuivasa-Sheck: he's a fullback, not a midfielder. Then there's Finlay Christie, whose inclusion over firstly Brad Weber and then Roigard brought reactions from the public arguably not seen since the days of Mark Carter.
Disconnect
It's hard to think of a time in the modern era when the New Zealand public felt this disinterested in the All Blacks as a performance unit as opposed to the coaching situation, something which Foster has to carry the can for a bit. While the build-up to the World Cup final was something the New Zealand public bought into, it took until well into the tournament for that level of interest to emerge. Foster's inability to embrace the wider persona of the most important job in New Zealand sport stands in stark contrast to his predecessor Steve Hansen, who understood that he needed to be the personality and salesman of not just the team, but NZ Rugby as a whole.
