'Treatment of Foster by his own community nothing short of shameful'

Ex-Scotland boss Matt Williams has hit out at the New Zealand media and All Blacks fans for their treatment of Ian Foster in the wake of the 1-2 Test series defeat to Ireland. Foster has flown out to South Africa for his team’s upcoming two Rugby Championship matches against the Springboks on the back of a torrent of criticism following the recent losses in Dunedin and Wellington. 

The fallout has resulted in the NZR axing two of the assistants - John Plumtree and Brad Mooar - who were recruited by Foster when he became All Blacks coach in 2020 and amid the ongoing criticism, his union CEO Mark Robinson failed to give him a ringing vote of confidence when interviewed this weekend on New Zealand radio from the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. 

It has all lent itself to creating an intriguing backdrop to next weekend’s Championship opener in Nelspruit, a venue that Williams reckons was purposely chosen by the Springboks to make the All Blacks feel as uncomfortable as possible as the visitors seek to put an end to a withering run of four losses in their last five matches under Foster. 

Williams - an Australian who coached the NSW Waratahs before switching to Leinster - is a long time removed from the Test game having been sacked by Scotland in 2005 but he has since developed a punditry career on Irish TV and with the Irish Times.

His latest newspaper column didn’t pull its punches when reflecting on the situation that Foster finds himself in ahead of the All Blacks’ Championship opener.   

“The pivotal match of the tournament may well be its first when New Zealand take on South Africa in Mbombela,” wrote Williams. “Little known to the rugby world, Mbombela Stadium sits 110km west of the Mozambique border and 330km east of Johannesburg, which is about as distant physically and culturally from the Land of the Long White Cloud as you can get. Having visited Mbombela many years ago I can promise you, Paris it ain’t.

“The fact that Mbombela sits on the Crocodile River suggests - and here please excuse my cynicism - that the South Africans have organised a very public ambush, to heap more pain on the already wounded New Zealanders.

“This week former New Zealand World Cup-winning coach Steve Hansen harshly criticised New Zealand Rugby for its lack of public support for their team and its under-fire coach Ian Foster, who has suffered far more public criticism and humiliation than any coach should be forced to endure for a sporting defeat.

“Not for the first time, the reaction to defeat by the New Zealand media and their wider rugby community has exposed a deep flaw of character. The treatment of Foster by his own community has been nothing short of shameful. As a coach criticism comes with the badge but the personal vilification he has had to endure is simply not acceptable. Hansen also said the relationship between the New Zealand players and New Zealand Rugby is at an all-time low.

“After trampling all over Super Rugby, then alienating every national union in the south and possibly forcing the Springboks north, is it any wonder New Zealand Rugby and its team find themselves isolated and boxed into a corner created by their own self-serving actions?

“With such dreadful governance from Sanzaar, it is no accident that the northern nations have recovered so much ground on the south. Not even a victory against the Springboks next weekend will solve all of these deep concerns for New Zealand Rugby and Sanzaar. Mbombela Stadium has become the very unlikely venue for a Test match with stakes that have suddenly jumped far beyond just the opening round of the 2022 Rugby Championship.”