MY ACCOUNT
Ian Foster has “no idea” if New Zealand’s 35-23 Rugby Championship win over South Africa on Saturday will be enough to save his job.
Foster has faced huge pressure as head coach of the All Blacks after a dismal run of five defeats in six Tests, but his team put in an impressive performance in Johannesburg.
Tries from captain Sam Cane and Samisoni Taukei’aho gave them a strong start, only for the world champions to fight back and take the lead with 12 minutes to go courtesy of scores from Lukhanyo Am and Makazole Mapimpi, as well as 15 points from the boot of Handre Pollard.
Beauden Barrett had been sent to the sin bin for New Zealand, but late tries from David Havili and Scott Barrett turned things around for the All Blacks and secured a defiant win.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, Foster was asked if he thought the victory might allow him a stay of execution, to which he said: “I have no idea, I am just going to enjoy tonight.
“It’s never easy when you are coming off a couple of losses, but [I am] so proud. Just so proud of the effort… they hung in and finished strong.”
Three consecutive defeats saw New Zealand plummet to fifth in the world rankings after losing their Rugby Championship opener last weekend, their lowest point in history.
Foster said after that defeat in Mbombela that it had been his team’s best performance of the year, despite being beaten by South Africa.
“I know I got a little bit mocked for saying that last week, after the loss, but we made a big shift last week through our forward pack,” he added.
“The work [forwards coach] Jason Ryan has done out there was strong, and I really felt we were creating a few opportunities. We wanted it so much we were rushing things. Whereas today [Saturday], we were just more patient.”
The All Blacks’ next game is against Argentina in Christchurch, and it remains to be seen if Foster will still be at the helm when that takes place on August 27.
