Ian Foster says picking overseas-based players for All Blacks would be a ‘disaster’ for New Zealand rugby

All Blacks head coach Ian Foster. Photo / Getty

All Blacks coach Ian Foster is against the idea of selecting players from overseas for the national team, saying it would be a “disaster” for New Zealand rugby.

Scott Robertson, who will succeed Foster as head coach after the World Cup, made headlines this week after he left the door open for selecting overseas-based players for the All Blacks when he takes over.

New Zealand Rugby has always picked All Blacks squads with locally-based players, but Robertson said there is potential for things to be “challenged” in future, while NZR boss Mark Robinson also didn’t rule anything out.

However, Foster believes changing the All Blacks selection policy isn’t a good idea.

“From an All Blacks perspective, if I just looked at it purely selfishly from the All Blacks, it always makes some academic sense. But for New Zealand rugby as a whole, I think it would be a disaster,” Foster told Newstalk ZB’s Jason Pine.

“I think we’ve got a Super Rugby competition that has fed our national team for many, many years. I don’t think the Super Rugby competition is perfect — it needs a bit of work. But that is the development path.

“It’s where we actually develop our players — we’re able to work with the franchises in that space. I think we need to make sure we’re selling the product to the public and we’re growing our young players with our older players around them.”

Foster says allowing overseas players to be selected would ultimately be a negative for New Zealand rugby.

“The moment we open up the door, we know the worldwide demand for our players is huge, and I think we’ll lose a lot of our top players and I think it will dilute our domestic competition too much.

“There’s pros and cons either way, but I think we have to look at the game as a whole, as a bigger picture.”

Foster, who will be the first All Blacks coach with a confirmed successor waiting in the wings, also said nothing will change with regard to his relationship and dealings with Robertson ahead of the World Cup.

“For me, it shouldn’t be any different. I don’t expect any change,” Foster said.

“[The] reality is, he’s the coach for next year and I’m the coach for this year. So that’s the dynamic.

“It has to be business as normal. You can’t have two voices in the market. You can’t have people trying to make decisions based on two different opinions. It’s pretty simple to me.”

Robertson confirmed this week that he will attend the tournament in Paris later this year, with full “respect” for the current coaching group.

Foster remains focused on preparing for the World Cup, and says there is still a lot for players to prove as Super Rugby Pacific heads into its business end.

“We’re having some good debates about that already,” Foster said about his early thoughts on World Cup squad selection.

“We’ve got a lot of versatility in our group, particularly in our backs, and we’ve got quite a bit of versatility when you look at some of our locks and loose forward-type players.

“We’ve got the Rugby Championship, where we will probably be picking 36 to keep the door open for people as well.

“It’s certainly not a closed door at the moment to anybody.

“We certainly have got a lion’s share of our group pretty clear, but there are some positions that we want to be open-minded right to the end.”