'It has been vicious': All Blacks coach Ian Foster's riposte to critics after Springboks win & More Latest News Here – Up Jobs

To the victor goes the spoils, and the last word. All Blacks coach Ian Foster certainly deserved his say, and spray, after his team’s magnificent response at Ellis Park early Sunday (NZT), mixing praise for his players with a withering attack on the media criticism he had copped in the leadup.

Foster was rightfully proud of his team’s response against the world champion Springboks, after they had been pressured and manhandled into a 26-10 defeat last weekend in Mbombela – the largest in 94 years against the great rivals, and their fifth loss in the last six tests.

The turnaround at altitude in Johannesburg just seven days later, in front of a seething capacity crowd of 62,000 at this intimidating venue, was dramatic and comprehensive as they survived a furious Boks comeback to pull away to a 35-23 victory that squares their Rugby Championship ledger.

It did not come without tension either as the Boks fought back from a 15-0 deficit late in the first half, to lead 23-21 with a dozen minutes remaining, and Beauden Barrett in the bin. The New Zealanders responded with two tries in the final eight minutes to leave the South Africans in their dust.

Foster, to his credit, had predicted this response and had maintained all week his team was improving and evolving. Whether the result is enough for him to keep his job, after NZ Rugby chief executive Mark Robinson had only endorsed him for the two matches in South Africa, remains to be seen.

“I have no idea, I am just going to enjoy tonight,” Foster told Sky Sport when questioned if he would still be coaching the All Blacks when they host Argentina. He also said at the post-game press conference: “The stress has been really good for me. I think I’ve lost 1kg the last two weeks, and maybe over the next week or two I might lose a few more … it comes with the job.”

The All Blacks’ response in the Boks rematch should work in his favour. His team made huge improvements in many areas where they had been short of the mark just seven days earlier, upping the ante under the high ball, at the breakdown, in the physical engagements and with their ability to put their big ball-runners into holes.

“The performance we saw today was the result of the last two-and-a-half weeks where this group has reformed and reshaped a little bit,” he said. “I couldn’t be more proud of the effort of coming up here to altitude for a game that was loseable, and winnable, but to finish strong over a mighty team at their home ground is a great occasion for us.”

He was asked about the criticism he had copped from New Zealand, and did not hold back. To be fair to those critics, Stuff included, those assessments had been based purely and simply on those five defeats in the last six, the decision to axe his two senior assistants after they had been only recently reappointed and the manner in which many of those things had been handled.

Still, Foster deserved his riposte, for he had indeed borne the brunt of the criticism for a series of performances, by the team’s own admission, a long way from where they set their own high standards. He also made reference to a line in a Stuff story on his team for this second test in which it had been said he was sticking to his “pop-guns” – a play on words, as well as an inference the team’s heavy armoury had not fired in 2022. They hadn’t.

“It has been pretty vicious,” said Foster of the criticism. “There’s been a lot of onslaught, particularly from our New Zealand media. They’ve got high expectations of us, and they’ve made that loud and clear. They’ve clearly come very strong at me as a person – some of them have even called some of our selections pop-guns which I found quite insulting for players that give everything to play for their nation.

“That pressure has been strong. It doesn’t change the fact that adversity is the best teacher for character and we’ve stayed tight.”

It’s not clear what “personal” criticism Foster was referring to, for Stuff’s assessments, and that of other media outlets, had focused purely and simply on his coaching.

The coach said it had been important to match the Boks in the forward exchanges – they stole four of their lineouts, defended repeated driving mauls with stunning efficiency and scrummed solidly – and acknowledged it had been an “achilles heel” as far back as 2018. “They’re areas you have got to bar up in,” he added, praising new starting props Ethan de Groot and Tyrel Lomax for their efforts, as well as debutant Fletcher Newwell.

So what does it all mean for the future, should Foster remain in the job?

“Long-term success often starts with adversity, with a low point,” he said. “We’ve lost three in a row this year and it hurt. Last week we saw signs of our game, our combativeness … we’re breeding a few young boys in here, a few new combinations, and that takes time.

“Some people don’t have the patience, and I understand that and get the frustration. But inside the camp … what means a lot to us is how we pull together, work hard and keep growing areas we need to grow to perform.”

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