the storm has passed but Foster’s fate is not settled

The bleeding is stopped. New Zealand, victorious Saturday in South Africa (23-35), finally found the way to victory. In the land of rugby-king, the All Blacks’ five defeats in six matches (including three losses in a row) before facing the Boks for the second time had unleashed a real storm. Media and fans directly attacking a man: coach Ian Foster. Guilty of all evils and the target of violent attacks. After the convincing success on Saturday on the land of the world champions, the New Zealand technician preferred to take things with a smile. “The stress has done me good, I think I lost a kilo last week, so in a few weeks I will be in good shape”he joked.

And recognize: “I know I was laughed at for what I said after a loss (his team had achieved its “best performance of the year” in the first loss 26-10 against the BoksEditor’s note), but we made a big shake up in our pack compared to last week. The work of (assistant coach) Jason Ryan was solid, and I felt we were creating some opportunities. We wanted to do it so badly that we rushed things, whereas today we were more patient.” The – controversial – choice to establish Richie Mo’unga at the opening in place of Beauden Barrett has finally paid off.

Read alsoRugby: the video summary of the All Blacks victory over South Africa

At the end of the match, Ian Foster received the support of his troops, in particular of the third-line Ardie Savea. “For me personally, he is my coach and I support him 100%, side by side. He’s been under a lot of pressure and I know ‘Foz’ doesn’t want to take it personally, but I just want him to know that we support him and all the players support him.” According to him and despite the virulent criticism, Foster “is a great coach and he has great coaches by his side, who fully support him, 100%. And I hope everyone listening, reading this, supports us.»

The New Zealand Federation will meet

The New Zealand Federation, which knows that it is playing big one year before the World Cup in France, is waiting. The Kiwi leaders will meet these “next daysto discuss the future of coach Ian Foster and the entire All Blacks coaching staff, NZRU chief executive Mark Robinson said on Sunday. “All we can say is that we are focused on getting everyone home, and we will have a number of exchanges in the next few days, he insists. We just have to analyze this small period and see what the next steps must be with this framework.»

For his part, the coach of the “men in black” recognized that the stress “is part of the trade and he was quite virulent“: “There have been a lot of attacks, especially from the New Zealand media. They expect a lot from us and they let it be known loud and clear. They clearly attacked me very, very hard as a person. This pressure was strong but that does not change the fact that in adversity, he is the best teacher of character and we remained united.»

“There are always skeptics and a bit of negativity”

New Zealand will now have fifteen days to prepare for the reception of Argentina on August 27, on behalf of the third day of the Rugby Championship. Until then, the calculations will go well. The names of Scott Robertson (successful Crusaders mentor), Leon McDonald (Auckland Blues) or Joe Schmidt (Leinster, Ireland) come up regularly in discussions. “Some people don’t have patience and I understand that. I understand the frustrations, but inside the band it doesn’t mean much to us, sweeps Ian Foster. What’s important is to stick together, work hard and keep improving.»

Same echo on the side of Ardie Savea: “In our sport there are always skeptics and a bit of negativity, but that’s okay because it makes everyone better. People care about us. Our fans care. The media cares. Which is right. But we have to get up and do our job and I’m glad we did this. (Saturday) evening.” It remains to be seen whether this will be enough to save the head of the Blacks coach. The days to come will be decisive.