Ian Foster has survived his performance review and will coach the All Blacks through to next year’s World Cup. Ending months of uncertainty, New Zealand Rugby on Wednesday backed the under-fire coach to stay on in the job.
The vote of confidence comes after the All Blacks’ gutsy 35-23 win over world champions South Africa at Johannesburg’s Ellis Park on Saturday.
NZR board chair Stewart Mitchell said the win was “magnificent” before declaring Foster’s position safe. “[The board] have unanimously agreed they have absolute confidence that Ian and this coaching group are the right people to lead the All Blacks through to the World Cup,” Mitchell said. “This has been privately and publicly validated by our players and in various conversations within our high performance team.” The decision is contrary to expectations in much of New Zealand’s media, which had the axe out for Foster after three straight Test defeats.
New Zealand lost a home series for the first time in almost three decades, to Ireland, and were belted in their opening Rugby Championship clash with the Springboks earlier this month.