All Blacks coach Ian Foster hones in on Rugby World Cup blueprint

Ian Foster celebrates a win at Eden Park. Photo / Photosport

Having endured what must have been the most difficult few months of his career, incumbent All Blacks head coach Ian Foster has returned from a European sojourn to take in the final rounds of the Six Nations energised, enthused and more than a little excited about what the next eight months holds in store for his team.

There’s a sense Foster is untroubled now by New Zealand Rugby’s decision to tell the world that Scott Robertson will be taking over coaching the team next year.

Foster was put in a tough spot by his employer, but he lodged his disapproval about things a few weeks back – made it clear he thought it was a mistake for people to be contesting his job while he was still in it – and now he’s drawn a line under those events, and is focused exclusively on trying to coach the team to World Cup glory later this year.

And his focus has been sharpened after spending the last two weeks in Europe where he got a close look at Ireland and France, the two teams he feels have given him and his fellow coaching group clear ideas about what sort of standards the All Blacks are going to have to reach to win the World Cup.

“Sitting in the Stade de France, you got a clear picture for the excitement up in the North,” says Foster.

“The fact is they have a lot of belief, they have got some star players and some who are playing well.

“Then you look at Ireland and their consistent success and how they are tracking, it has set some levels.

“But the great thing for me and Joe [Schmidt] and Jason [Ryan] – we have got our eyes very much on the level we have got to be at, and we now have a clear imprint in our mind where we need to get to with our group.

“We looked at it and walked away and said, ‘It’s going to be a massive World Cup’. A little bit different to a lot of other World Cup campaigns but, wow, a great challenge and we will be ready.”

He feels this World Cup will be different because of the intensity of interest that will surround France and the sense of anticipation that has already built within the host nation.

The popularity of rugby is booming in the Northern Hemisphere. The Six Nations was compelling and not just for the drama, but for the spectacle, too, as the quality of some of the games was higher than it has been in decades.

And while Ireland won a Grand Slam and remain the No 1 side in the world, it’s the energy of the French and the connection they have with their people which Foster thinks will be the life force of the tournament.

All Blacks head coach Ian Foster says sitting in Stade de France, you can picture the excitement in the north. Photo / Photosport

“The home side are sitting on top of the world, although I know they are ranked No 2. In terms of their own belief, their form, their confidence, they have been building for three years.

“They have sold almost every ticket of every stadium for every match and the country is pumped about it. There is a massive vibe over there and so we are going to a country that has got utter belief they can win this World Cup and everywhere we went there was massive excitement about it.

“If I look at the two World Cups that I have been to, England in 2015 got knocked out in pool play and then in Japan, they did well making the quarter-finals, but there wasn’t a belief in that country that they were going to win the final.

“Whereas we are going to go into the lion’s den really and that’s what I love about this World Cup – the challenge is going to be clear the minute you get off the plane.

“There will be no hiding from it and that makes it really clear for us and why I think it is a different World Cup and one we are going to embrace.”

He suspects that by the time the All Blacks arrive in France, the picture will have changed as the Southern Hemisphere heavyweights will have had the Rugby Championship to reveal how they are tracking, and Foster was impressed with the way the South Africans finished last year and like everyone else, will be watching to see how Australia react to the arrival of new head coach Eddie Jones.

How well New Zealand end up tracking, he says, will depend largely on how quickly players transition from Super Rugby to test football.

“We have made it clear to this group that we can’t afford to waste the few games we have,” says Foster.

“We are away to Argentina two weeks after the final and then we come home to South Africa. We have told the guys they have to present themselves in the right sort of shape because we can’t afford to waste those first two tests.

“We have got five tests before the World Cup and when we get there, the first game is against France. So we have strong expectations, if selected, when they turn up that they are ready to go. They have to manage themselves to get to that point.”