By Gareth James
Former Welsh Rugby Union chief executive David Moffett has urged the All Blacks to either sack or back coach Ian Foster.
Foster appeared to be on the verge of being dismissed after New Zealand suffered a run of five Test defeats in six matches.
But the All Blacks – who play Wales in Cardiff on November 5 – rallied to earn a superb 35-23 victory in South Africa last weekend and since then his bosses have refused to comment on his immediate future.
That led Kiwi Moffett to declare on New Zealand radio, “I’ve heard a lot about this non-event that was the presser that he (Mark Robinson, NZRU CEO)) held and I think all he did was make things dramatically worse.
“Whether any of the fans think it would be Foster or it should be Scott Robertson, the fact of the matter remains that Foster has been left out to dry by Robinson and I don’t think that’s good enough.
“I think the average person would just sort of say, ‘well, why don’t you make a decision and either sack him or back him’.”
Despite the thrilling victory over the Springboks at Ellis Park in the second round of the Rugby Championship, Foster, at least publicly, has yet to be told whether he will continue coaching the All Blacks throughout the tournament.
The under-siege All Blacks coach, who presided over their first home series loss since 1994 after losing to Ireland 2-1 last month, said he had “no idea” whether he would coach the national side following the dramatic victory in Johannesburg on Sunday.
Robinson only inflamed the situation, and subsequently turned the focus away from the victory, by calling a Sunday evening media conference in which he said nothing at all.
Instead, he failed to endorse Foster and neither backed or sacked the coach, explaining more meetings would occur over the coming days.
“We believe we know where we stand and just got to work through it,” Robinson said.
“At this point the main priority is to get everyone home. We will then take stock, meet with management as soon as we reasonably can after getting home and debrief how the tour went and where we see things.
“We’ll be making no further comment until that time which is likely to be the middle to latter part of this week.”
#ICYMI: Ian Foster’s side are now just two-hundredths of a point behind world champions South Africa 👇#RugbyChampionship #Springboks #SouthAfrica #NewZealand #AllBlacks #RSAvNZL https://t.co/phgrf5TdwT
— rugby365.com (@rugby365com) August 16, 2022
The response likely came after the All Blacks, as well as Robinson, were criticised for their silence following the series loss to Ireland in July.
Ultimately, Foster parted ways with two of his assistants – senior coach and former Swansea chief John Plumtree, and backs coach and ex-Scarlets chief Brad Mooar. He then brought in Scott Robertson’s right-hand man at the Crusaders, Jason Ryan.
A board meeting on Wednesday – 10 days out from the All Blacks’ next Test against Michael Cheika’s Argentina Pumas – is expected to determine Foster’s fate.
Before jumping on a plane to return to New Zealand, Foster said he was planning as if he would coach the All Blacks for the upcoming Tests against the Pumas.
As good as it gets. What a team try 🔥#TheBestRun #SAPsports @SAPSports pic.twitter.com/FLTbtYG8aM
— All Blacks (@AllBlacks) August 15, 2022
“I haven’t heard or read those comments, but he’s got a job to do,” Foster told reporters in Johannesburg when asked about Robinson’s remarks.
“I’m about to hop on a plane and go home.
“I’ll be given feedback, no doubt, but my expectations are that I’m the All Blacks head coach and later in the week I’ll be going to Christchurch and assembling the team until I’m told different.”