Internal standards enough motivation for All Blacks, says Foster

03.10.2023 - 17:31 channelnewsasia.com

LYON, France : New Zealand's Ian Foster has given an insight into how the coach of a team that has just run in 14 tries against a Six Nations team motivates his players for a match against a side that has never come close to beating tier one opposition.

The All Blacks take on 17th-ranked Uruguay in Pool A on Thursday at OL Stadium, the same ground where they laid waste to Italy 96-17 last Friday with one of the best performances of the World Cup so far.

By any measure, anything less than the bonus-point win New Zealand need to be guaranteed a place in the quarter-finals would be a seismic shock.

That Foster made nine changes to his starting side will not help Los Teros too much given he was able to bring in players of the calibre of skipper Sam Cane, Damian McKenzie, Leicester Fainga'anuku and Sam Whitelock.

love show UPS performer shock reports motivation Ian Foster Damian Mackenzie Sam Whitelock France Italy Usa New Zealand Uruguay county Lyon

PARIS: New Zealand bulldozed through Argentina 44-6 on Friday to reach the Rugby World Cup final for a record fifth time.

All Blacks coach expects scrap with Argentina in semi-final

PARIS : New Zealand coach Ian Foster reckons his side will have to scrap their way through Friday’s World Cup semi-final to overcome Argentina in what he predicted would be a similar battle to the one they had against Ireland last week.

Ian Foster warns All Blacks 'not to get softened' by acclaim following Ireland win

New Zealand boss Ian Foster has warned his players "not to get softened" by the acclaim which followed their thrilling World Cup win over Ireland ahead of a semi-final showdown with Argentina. The All Blacks booked a last-four spot by upsetting Andy Farrell's men with a pulsating 28-24 victory in Paris. New Zealand return to Stade de France on Friday evening and are red-hot favourites to progress to a final against either England or reigning champions South Africa. Head coach Foster feels "being patted on the back" following a statement last-eight victory over the Irish derailed the Kiwis in the 2019 tournament and is eager to avoid history repeating itself. "The best way to recover is to refocus really quickly on what the next challenge is and not to listen too much to any praise you're given as a group for a performance," said Foster, who was assistant to Steve Hansen four years ago when New Zealand lost to England in the semi-finals. "Not to go down that path, not to get softened because everyone's patting you on the back saying you played well. "That's not a good place to be as a team. "I love the way the team has buckled down, we've redefined the challenge for us as a group, we're not satisfied with where we are now and when you're clear about your goal for the week the recovery comes along pretty quickly. "You know that if we're not right on Friday night at Stade de France, it's going to be a sad old night and we don't want it to be like that. "You get people talking to you about tomorrow and trying to take your eyes off today. "In 2019 we probably didn't stop being patted on the back after the quarter-final, hence some of my language today and we're just trying to dial this back, keep things simple and let's just

Telea returns as All Blacks make two changes for Argentina

RUEIL-MALMAISON, France: Winger Mark Telea returned to New Zealand’s starting line-up for Friday’s World Cup semi-final against Argentina after being left out of the team last weekend for disciplinary reasons as coach Ian Foster said he resisted any temptation to tinker.