Call Ian Foster what you want – and there have been a few around the country pitching in on that over the last few turbulent months – but there are now some things you clearly cannot label him. Like inconsistent, or uncertain, or even wavering in his self-belief.
For a coach who is presiding over in all likelihood the worst performing All Blacks team in its 119-year test history, he remains remarkably adamant – obstinate might be another descriptor – over both the pathway he is taking and the players he is doing it with.
If you’re the type who likes to find something positive in even the grimmest of scenarios, then the insistence of the man in charge that he’s on the right track must be just a little bit reassuring.
No? Well, hear him out.
Here’s where we stand: Foster’s All Blacks, aka Foster’s Imposters if you listen to some of those of a less forgiving nature, are coming off one of the worst defeats in, well, let’s narrow it down to the professional era – last Saturday’s feckless chokefest of a 25-18 loss to Michael Cheika’s Argentina in Christchurch.
They had nigh on two-thirds of the possession and territory, and enough chances to win the test two or three times over, but managed to cough up a historic home loss to a Pumas team who, well, tackled well and slotted their goals.
And, really, it was hardly a surprise.
This was the All Blacks’ third home defeat on the bounce – a feat never before managed in those 119 years of test footy – and their sixth in the last eight outings.
This is the darkest period ever and all of a sudden that 20-year grip on the Bledisloe looks all kinds of shaky, never mind the prospect of Eddie Jones’ England at Twickenham in November.
Most pundits figured there would have to be some sort of a reaction from Foster and his new selection crew of Joe Schmidt and Jason Ryan this week. That there would be a price to pay for a defeat as dire as last Saturday’s.
But no.
Foster has decided to run it back with the same starting XV in Hamilton (their third test on the bounce, which hasn’t been done since the good old days of 1997) as though last Saturday’s Addington horror show never even happened.
So Sam Cane stays, Sam Whitelock too, and Aaron Smith. They are all experienced, outstanding All Blacks who looked, to be generous, jaded in Christchurch. Lacking answers might have been another description.
Same with the midfield of David Havili and Rieko Ioane which had another sub-par test, and the Will Jordan-on-the-wing selection, which netted a spectacular whiff on his home track where he ran for 29 metres on seven carries.
Foster has made four changes on the bench, and admitted it was the final quarter when the problems really hit home for the All Blacks, but even two of those were the result of experienced performers – Brodie Retallick and Beauden Barrett – being fit again.
Really only the promotion of Dane Coles to backup hooker and Dalton Papalii as loose forward cover are strict selection changes.
If indeed it was the senior players who saved Foster’s All Blacks coaching career – and it’s unlikely to have been as simple as just that – then surely he’s paying them back with this selection?
But as the coach spent the best part of 16 minutes explaining his rationale in Hamilton on Thursday, he did so with a steadfastness that suggests he sincerely believes in what he’s doing.
Yes, he feels the pressure – that much is clear in the careworn nature of his media appearances – but he remains convinced in what he is doing.
“For those who want blood, I guess we haven’t given it,” he noted when Stuff asked his response to a public who likely wanted accountability for the defeat.
“We’ve been pretty ruthless and hard on ourselves behind the scenes. We’re hurting with where the team is at, but if we dwell too much on that, if you play under fear, you restrict your options, restrict your thinking, and what happens is you just don’t get the game going the way you want to.
“We believe in some things we’re working on now, and we believe there’s enough evidence some things are going really well. It didn’t translate into the result we wanted and we think the best way to build confidence in those key pressure moments is put the guys out there that have just been through it.”
Foster is in a strong enough place now to shrug off his personal pressure.
“I’ve figured out my wife still loves me, which is important,” he said of the chance to be back home for a week. But he’s adamant the pressure remains on his players through the requirement to perform, and that the benefits from allowing combinations to grow, lessons to be heeded, will outweigh any negatives of this run-it-back selection.
There are many reasons to doubt Foster, but his resoluteness is one trait to admire. However, he has to see results for that, and immediately. Foster’s senior players backed their coach, he’s returned the favour, and now it’s everyone’s time to play some decent footy. It is long overdue.
