Rugby: Documentary reveals All Blacks coaching clash

Steve Hansen, left, with Ian Foster. Photo / Getty Images

Rieko Ioane's selection on the left wing for the first test against the British and Irish Lions last year wasn't without its debate among the All Blacks coaches and particularly assistant Ian Foster, who described it initially as "dumb" and "ridiculous".

Foster's incredulity at head coach Steve Hansen's suggestion days before the test at Eden Park last July that the All Blacks swap Julian Savea to the right wing to allow for the then 20-year-old Ioane to have a go on the left is revealed in the Amazon Prime Video documentary All or Nothing: New Zealand All Blacks.

Such robust selection debate is likely common at the All Blacks - it certainly is with most teams at the top level - but the exchange between Hansen and Foster during a training session in west Auckland contains probably the most dramatic tension of the entire six-part series, which began screening on Friday.

It is resolved quickly, and Ioane went on to score two tries in the test and develop into one of the All Blacks' most powerful and pacey strike weapons, a series of performances that earned him World Rugby's breakout player of the year award. It effectively marks the end of Julian Savea's reign in the No11 jersey.

But it gives an insight into the relationship between Hansen and Foster, who is a good chance to take over as All Blacks head coach if and when Hansen steps down after next year's World Cup in Japan.

"Fozzie's the yin to my yang I suppose," Hansen tells an interviewer on the documentary. "He's very thoughtful whereas at times I can be a little bit impulsive."

Footage and audio is then shown of the pair at training.

Steve Hansen, left, with Ian Foster. Photo / Getty Images

"Can we swap those two wingers over?" Hansen asks Foster.

"What do you mean?" Foster replies.

"Wais [Naholo] and Julian play on the right and he plays on the left," Hansen says.

"It's a dumb call today ... I think it's a ridiculous idea," Foster says, adding presumably of Savea: "I couldn't tell you if he's a good right wing - it's a completely different picture."

To an interviewer, Foster says: "You always say you've got an equal vote but his is 51 per cent and it didn't sound like a great idea days before one of the biggest tests we've had."

Back on the training pitch, Hansen says: "Have a look and see what you think. Be open. If it doesn't work, change it."

Foster tells Savea: "Jules, change wings."

At the end of the series, Ioane is shown receiving his World Rugby award in a glittering ceremony in Monte Carlo. Making it more special for him, he says, is the fact he received it from teammate Beauden Barrett, who later wins the overall World Rugby player of the year award.

Rieko Ioane repaid Steve Hansen's faith in him with a superb display in the first test against the Lions. Photo / Getty Images

The first Lions test was his first test start. He has now played 13 tests and has scored 11 tries.

"I've had my goals that I wanted to achieve this year," Ioane says. "It panned out. I didn't think I would get this far this fast."

The series follows the All Blacks from that first Lions test to the final Bledisloe Cup defeat against Australia in Brisbane last October; a linear progression which gives a few insights into the team's dynamic, but not as many as some may have hoped for.

Hansen said last week there was a lot of debate about letting the television cameras into the inner sanctum because of the risks of giving away secrets of the defending world champions, but few, if any, are immediately obvious, although there is a nice interchange between Hansen and his wife Tash at their rural Christchurch property in one episode.

Tash jokes about her husband's "monotone"voice after the pair are filmed putting up black sheeting around their boundary. "The things we do for privacy," Hansen says.

Tash says by way of explanation: "Otherwise you get people parked up [on the roadside] and looking in."