Richard Knowler is a senior sports writer for Stuff
OPINION: Cutting through the noise created by the All Blacks players will be crucial as NZ Rugby determines the fate of coach Ian Foster this week.
First things, first. Foster and his team deserve all the praise they have received, and more, for the 35-23 win over the Springboks at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on Sunday morning.
What NZ Rugby has to determine, now, is whether that result was enough to prevent Foster’s contract being terminated. If they are doing their job properly, they won’t allow their judgement to be clouded by the most recent performance.
Kim Ludbrook/EPA via Photosport
All Blacks coach Ian Foster (left), pictured with Ardie Savea after the 35-23 win over the Springboks, will have to wait for NZ Rugby to decide whether he will keep his job.
Which means they must conduct a thorough investigation into whether Foster remains the right person to stay in charge through to the World Cup in France in 13 months’ time.
If NZ Rugby decides Foster’s recent record of five defeats from seven tests is unacceptable, even when taking into account the result at Ellis Park, then Crusaders coach Scott Robertson shapes as the logical successor.
Following the triumph in Johannesburg, Foster drew a line in the sand. He wants to stay: if his employer wants him out, they must sack him.
So Foster is digging in for a fight. And he has a number of players, including captain Sam Cane, Ardie Savea and Aaron Smith, sitting in the trenches beside him. They have all made it abundantly clear they support Foster.
NZ Rugby CEO Mark Robinson, meanwhile, has offered no assurances. He refused to endorse Foster to remain in charge of the team for the next test, against Argentina in Christchurch on August 27.
KIM LUDBROOK/EPA via Photosport
All Blacks captain Sam Cane and his team celebrate the 35-23 win over the Springboks by displaying the Freedom Cup.
Now NZ Rugby, as it did after the All Blacks lost the series to Ireland 2-1, will have another look at Foster’s reign before making a recommendation to the board on whether to keep employing him.
If Foster is dumped, and replaced by Robertson, the question, then, would be how can NZ Rugby mend the relationship with the players.
During the Silver Lake saga, when the Players’ Association and NZ Rugby butted heads over the terms of the deal with the US private equity giant, the gulf between the two factions widened. Yet, amid all the acrimony, the players still pulled their boots on and went to work for the All Blacks and their Super Rugby franchises.
But this current situation has the potential to be trickier. Loyalty is to be admired. It can be a powerful thing, but it can also cloud people’s judgement. Professional athletes, like the rest of us, can be emotional creatures.
Gallo Images/Getty Images
All Blacks lock Scott Barrett surges through the Springboks’ defence during the test in Johannesburg.
Robinson must be careful to not alienate his All Blacks.
It should also be a two-way street. The New Zealand rugby public have a right to expect their All Blacks to be mature enough to accept that while they don’t agree with the change, they have to muck in and build on the win in Johannesburg.
If Foster is a goner, they should find a way to forge ahead and not be bitter.
For now, however, Robinson and NZ Rugby have to ask – as they did after the Ireland series – how much more All Blacks can improve.
Have the All Blacks turned the corner? Or was that excellent performance in Johannesburg a reflection of the team’s resolve to farewell their embattled coach with a famous win? Why could Foster not coax the same magic out of them for the third test against Ireland or during the 26-10 loss to the Springboks in Mbombela?
NZ Rugby must search for the answers. There is also no shying away from Foster’s recent record, which is modest.
If he survives he will surely propose there are no more mid-term reviews, and that NZ Rugby must give him his full backing through the World Cup.
That would require a significant amount of trust between both parties, and the players, which seems in short supply right now.
NZ Rugby can’t be blinded by All Blacks’ victory when deciding Ian Foster’s fate & Latest News Update
NZ Rugby can’t be blinded by All Blacks’ victory when deciding Ian Foster’s fate & More Live News
All this news that I have made and shared for you people, you will like it very much and in it we keep bringing topics for you people like every time so that you keep getting news information like trending topics and you It is our goal to be able to get
all kinds of news without going through us so that we can reach you the latest and best news for free so that you can move ahead further by getting the information of that news together with you. Later on, we will continue
to give information about more today world news update types of latest news through posts on our website so that you always keep moving forward in that news and whatever kind of information will be there, it will definitely be conveyed to you people.
NZ Rugby can’t be blinded by All Blacks’ victory when deciding Ian Foster’s fate & More News Today
All this news that I have brought up to you or will be the most different and best news that you people are not going to get anywhere, along with the information Trending News, Breaking News, Health News, Science News, Sports News, Entertainment News, Technology News, Business News, World News of this made available to all of you so that you are always connected with the news, stay ahead in the matter and keep getting today news all types of news for free till today so that you can get the news by getting it. Always take two steps forward
Credit Goes To News Website – This Original Content Owner News Website . This Is Not My Content So If You Want To Read Original Content You Can Follow Below Links