1
'Cheers bro': New All Black gives Foster most Kiwi response
By Ned Lester
Naming an All Blacks squad brings with it some of the most difficult conversations a coach will have, but also some of the greatest.
On Sunday, Ian Foster sent out messages to the former and fringe All Blacks who were hoping to hear their names called in The Rugby Championship squad but weren't selected.
The coach revealed some players were yet to reply to the messages, as each of the hopefuls processed the news in their own way.
Forwards coach Jason Ryan later clarified that he and Joe Schmidt would follow up with the players and have a discussion about the improvements that the coaches were looking for.
After the squad naming at Te Awamutu Rugby Club, Foster and his assistants moved on to the more joyful task of calling the five newbies.
Dallas McLeod, Samipeni Finau, Emoni Narawa, Cam Roigard and Tamaiti Williams were the players to contact.
"Ringing up guys and saying 'look, you've missed out because of this'. It's tough. It's the toughest part of the job," Ryan told SENZ Breakfast.
"The great part of the job is when you leave Te Awamutu sports club, me Foz and Joe were sitting in the car and Foz goes 'Righto, let's ring the new boys'.
"We rung them all and it was just unbelievable, everyone had their own story.
"Tamaiti Williams, Fozzie goes 'It's Ian Foster here, congratulations Tamaiti.' Tamaiti goes 'Oh, cheers bro!'
"Like how good, that's a young man being themselves and that's exactly what we want."
Williams has stepped into the starting XV for the Crusaders in 2023 with the injuries to All Blacks George Bower, Joe Moody and Fletcher Newell as well as Oli Jager.
The prop ticked all the boxes for Ryan, his size providing some of the best post-contact statistics in Super Rugby while his skills as a distributor contribute to the Crusaders' attack plays and his fitness and attitude ensure he's off the ground and into the next play straight away.
The 22-year-old was enjoying a visit from his parents over the weekend when the squad was announced and he had to wait until the very end of the alphabetical list to hear his name.
"I only kind of heard the start of my name, and then mum started crying,'' Williams said. "So I thought it must be good news.''
Trending on RugbyPass
2
Bath Rugby turnover breaks £20m but losses increase
3
Gloucester Rugby accounts reveal £3 million drop in turnover
4
Exeter Chiefs close to revealing new attack and backs coach
5
Latest Comments
Steve Hansen stepped down as ABs coach aged 60, Graham Henry did so at 65, Robbie Deans quit the Wallabies job at 54, and Wayne Smith left the ABs aged 60.
Most of them have had lesser jobs since then, but its only Graham Henry who could really be said to have coached at the top level “well into his 60s”. He’s a bit of an outlier, and that was 14 years ago. Its very possible that that will change, but I’m not seeing much evidence of that!
One factor that might be important is that NBA and the NFL are 1 league sports. Rugby league is pretty much a 2 league sport, and those 2 leagues are so far apart there can’t be much trading between them. Rugby union and especially association football have many more leagues, and so there are more opportunities for younger managers to break through.
Also, the fact that Rugby tends to have less chopping and changing of coaches is an argument against hiring older coaches. Hire a good coach in his 40s and he could stay in the job for 20 years, but realistically how long would Les Kiss be the best coach in Australia for?
Go to commentsI’d probably agree this is a tour too early but Lions do have a rich history of capping bolters and Pollock isnt as far behind as many say. I think you under-estimate his jackle work as he has a great turnover rate at club level and even at England A, he even got one against Wales
Fact is the nature of the game is changing and fast lighter backrows becoming more and more common as ball in play times go up and teams look to play wider. He is faces a challenge to make the initial squad but he is definately part of the conversation
Go to comments