All Blacks 2021
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@victor-meldrew said in All Blacks 2021:
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He sticks with some bizarre selections which don't make sense to me. Player loyalty is a good thing but can be carried too far and damage confidence.
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The attitude of the team under pressure seems all over the place as is the on-field leadership. This isn't all up to him as it includes the senior players, but he needs to lead here. This sort of stuff can't be fixed overnight and there were glimpses of improvement - particularly against Oz - but they faded badly on the NH tour. That’s not good enough.
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There's too many mistakes, ill-discipline, and lack of consistency on-field. That's down to him - and his Captain(s).
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He doesn't communicate well in public. Which makes me wonder if he's not communicating well enough with the team overall. He's probably pretty good dealing on a one-to-one basis though (i.e. Akira).
I'm glad that you have highlighted those 3 issues above.
Brendon McCullum (a man with relevant previous experience in a critical leadership role) voiced his views on the radio a few months back.
He reckoned that clearly Foster wants to be mates with his players, and doesn't have the ruthless streak to lay down the law or dump players who don't perform. And doesn't appear to have a coherent plan, or the ability to change things up when something isn't working.
In other words, not the right man to be Captain of the ship. Second mate is about his level. Foster simply isn't a natural leader.
A head coach needs to be an inspirational figure, a leader of men.. someone who's a big 'mover and shaker'.
Foster's personality is far too benign & mundane for a sheriff. If you think about all the great head coaching figures, they are all ruthless and decisive, no fluff involved. Eddie, Rassie, Razor, etc.. Crucially - their individual characters are stimulating, influential and engaging for players to stay driven, clear and motivated.
These high-profile head coaches have magnetic and charismatic personalities. Foster has all the charisma of dry paint. His interviews put me to sleep to be perfectly honest here... to contrast Henry, Eddie, Rassie, Razor etc.. are all extremely charming and engaging figures to listen to and interact with (for the players, media & fans alike). They each have magnetic personalities, are witty, sharp & intellectually minded. This is a critical point of difference that our current dry as dust, one dimensional head coach in Ian Foster severely lacks.
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just stop
you are embarrassing yourself
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@bones said in All Blacks 2021:
@nostrildamus keeps his shoes on, innit
Good eye for detail, but devout Buddhist monks go barefoot (like Buddha).
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@machpants said in All Blacks 2021:
@antipodean said in All Blacks 2021:
Option one is a path to mediocrity IMO. Everyone I speak to who isn't obviously brain damaged sees we're playing stupidly obvious patterns that don't make defenses make decisions. The same patterns we've been playing for ages.
Well he was chosen as a continuity coach. Maybe that's what they meant, same attack for another 4 years
Good point, it does seem a graceless but continual slide down from Hansen...
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@chris said in All Blacks 2021:
Thanks I appreciate the response and a very interesting well balanced one.
As you know I am not a Foster Fan really for all the negative reasons you outlined in your post.I would like him replaced.
But I take on board the other things you have said as they are good balanced points.One thing I might add is this: Has Super Rugby become too disconnected from Test level and doesn't provide the experience and exposure to pressure needed?
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@victor-meldrew said in All Blacks 2021:
@chris said in All Blacks 2021:
Thanks I appreciate the response and a very interesting well balanced one.
As you know I am not a Foster Fan really for all the negative reasons you outlined in your post.I would like him replaced.
But I take on board the other things you have said as they are good balanced points.One thing I might add is this: Has Super Rugby become too disconnected from Test level and doesn't provide the experience and exposure to pressure needed?
yes, yes, yes.
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@kiwi_expat said in All Blacks 2021:
These high-profile head coaches have magnetic and charismatic personalities. Foster has all the charisma of dry paint.
Two words: Carwyn James.
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@victor-meldrew said in All Blacks 2021:
@chris said in All Blacks 2021:
Thanks I appreciate the response and a very interesting well balanced one.
As you know I am not a Foster Fan really for all the negative reasons you outlined in your post.I would like him replaced.
But I take on board the other things you have said as they are good balanced points.One thing I might add is this: Has Super Rugby become too disconnected from Test level and doesn't provide the experience and exposure to pressure needed?
Yes I think it has,No SA has had a dramatic impact on SR In my Opinion..
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@kiwi_expat said in All Blacks 2021:
Brendon McCullum (a man with relevant previous experience in a critical leadership role) voiced his views on the radio a few months back.
He reckoned that clearly Foster wants to be mates with his players, and doesn't have the ruthless streak to lay down the law or dump players who don't perform. And doesn't appear to have a coherent plan, or the ability to change things up when something isn't working.I would tend to agree this seems like an area of real weakness. If you look at his refusal to drop those that aren't showing form (Codie Taylor, George Bridge, TJP, Patrick Tuipulotu, Brayden Ennor etc) it's a worrying trend. He's picking the same players that were being picked in 2019 under Hansen with the odd exception (Akira, Will Jordan). And some of the newer players he does pick hardly ever get to play despite showing promise (Tupou Vaai, Sotutu etc).
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@chris said in All Blacks 2021:
@victor-meldrew said in All Blacks 2021:
@chris said in All Blacks 2021:
Thanks I appreciate the response and a very interesting well balanced one.
As you know I am not a Foster Fan really for all the negative reasons you outlined in your post.I would like him replaced.
But I take on board the other things you have said as they are good balanced points.One thing I might add is this: Has Super Rugby become too disconnected from Test level and doesn't provide the experience and exposure to pressure needed?
Yes I think it has,No SA has had a dramatic impact on SR In my Opinion..
it predated that. Since 2015 (and the ill fated and poxy Super 18) the quality has plummetted. Super 18 was 2016/17. The administrators were crappy then, and they are crappy now. Once you wreck the quality of a comp, you can't get it back easily at all.
Losing the SA teams will prove problematic for both of us in the medium term I suspect. You have to play the best to be the best -- and we all lose out without the games.
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@kiwimurph said in All Blacks 2021:
And some of the newer players he does pick hardly ever get to play despite showing promise (Tupou Vaai, Sotutu etc).
TBF, I think Sotutu has been given plenty of game time and Vaia is probably being eased in. And he's given other new players plenty of time on the pitch as well.
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@nzzp said in All Blacks 2021:
@chris said in All Blacks 2021:
@victor-meldrew said in All Blacks 2021:
@chris said in All Blacks 2021:
Thanks I appreciate the response and a very interesting well balanced one.
As you know I am not a Foster Fan really for all the negative reasons you outlined in your post.I would like him replaced.
But I take on board the other things you have said as they are good balanced points.One thing I might add is this: Has Super Rugby become too disconnected from Test level and doesn't provide the experience and exposure to pressure needed?
Yes I think it has,No SA has had a dramatic impact on SR In my Opinion..
it predated that. Since 2015 (and the ill fated and poxy Super 18) the quality has plummetted. Super 18 was 2016/17. The administrators were crappy then, and they are crappy now. Once you wreck the quality of a comp, you can't get it back easily at all.
Losing the SA teams will prove problematic for both of us in the medium term I suspect. You have to play the best to be the best -- and we all lose out without the games.
I agree. and as @chris said, the loss of SA last year or so has maybe compounded the problem.
Too much focus on successful Super Rugby teams and not enough on the state of the game in NZ Rugby in general?
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@nostrildamus said in All Blacks 2021:
@bones said in All Blacks 2021:
@nostrildamus keeps his shoes on, innit
Good eye for detail, but devout Buddhist monks go barefoot (like Buddha).
My eye for detail also noted that I never said anything about a monk...
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@nzzp said in All Blacks 2021:
Losing the SA teams will prove problematic for both of us in the medium term I suspect. You have to play the best to be the best -- and we all lose out without the games.
The best? Look at how poorly the SA franchises are performing in the URC & how many SR titles have they won since 2010?
People are quick to cite the Aussie sides getting belted every weekend when the Saffers had an even worse Super win-record & qualification record for the playoffs.
The South African record in SR was quite honestly abysmal. For a country that prides itself on it's rugby prowess, their franchises were terrible and what they achieved was embarrassing.
They hardly brought a lot of value to Super Rugby (except diversity) but cheating officials and corrupt administrators.
And pretty much everything Foster says re: the performance of the AB's in that article (regarding the current absence of SA teams) feels like he's saying nothing. Of course it's a negative to be playing less diverse opposition. It's not the first, second, or tenth thing I would even look at though.
And to a large extent... It's not really even true because Super matches against South African teams tended to have pretty similar amounts of running rugby to other games. If anything, a lot of the local derbies felt tighter and more physical.
The SA teams don't even add to the URC (look at their position in the current standings) but then they didn't to SR either.
The way the All Blacks have been beaten in the last ten years hasn’t changed. Everyone knows what to do and how to do it. Some teams can execute that game plan.
Our coaches have just got lazy and complacent relying on player talent to carry the lack of game plan & tactical nous. The rest is just making excuses.
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@kiwi_expat said in All Blacks 2021:
They hardly brought a lot of value to Super Rugby (except diversity) besides cheating officials and corrupt administrators.
I don't agree. They brought huge physicality to the game, and a different style of play for people and teams to adapt to. They forced us to learn how to travel long distances and play well. They made us develop different game plans to win at altitude.
So I understand your point - but I really enjoyed having them in the comp, and will miss them.
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@kiwi_expat said in All Blacks 2021:
The South African record in SR was quite honestly abysmal. For a country that prides itself on it's rugby prowess, their franchises were terrible and what they achieved was embarrassing.
I agree. Yet they have won as many RWC's as us
You make a strong argument that any connection between coaching success at Super Rugby and Test level is tenuous at best.
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@nzzp said in All Blacks 2021:
@kiwi_expat said in All Blacks 2021:
They hardly brought a lot of value to Super Rugby (except diversity) besides cheating officials and corrupt administrators.
I don't agree. They brought huge physicality to the game, and a different style of play for people and teams to adapt to. They forced us to learn how to travel long distances and play well. They made us develop different game plans to win at altitude.
So I understand your point - but I really enjoyed having them in the comp, and will miss them.
That this needs pointing out is testament to some of the recent shit being posted on here (and separate from the fact that they would have been very strong if we had stayed with the original Super 12).
Don't get me wrong, I've been loving it, because January is a bit boring and it has kept me coming back.
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@nzzp said in All Blacks 2021:
@kiwi_expat said in All Blacks 2021:
They hardly brought a lot of value to Super Rugby (except diversity) besides cheating officials and corrupt administrators.
I don't agree. They brought huge physicality to the game, and a different style of play for people and teams to adapt to. They forced us to learn how to travel long distances and play well. They made us develop different game plans to win at altitude.
That appears to be something we learnt easily. We dominated them in SR.
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@antipodean said in All Blacks 2021:
@nzzp said in All Blacks 2021:
@kiwi_expat said in All Blacks 2021:
They hardly brought a lot of value to Super Rugby (except diversity) besides cheating officials and corrupt administrators.
I don't agree. They brought huge physicality to the game, and a different style of play for people and teams to adapt to. They forced us to learn how to travel long distances and play well. They made us develop different game plans to win at altitude.
That appears to be something we learnt easily. We dominated them in SR.
Not away.
The Saders (mostly) did, but quite a few teams really struggled over there. According to the excellent work of @Duluth here the stats look like this against the four teams that went most of the way through.
Even the Saders had a losing record against one side (Bulls) away and the Landers were running at about 33%. The Blues were the Sharks’ bitches for many years.
Win % of kiwi teams versus SA Teams away
Stormers
Crusaders 54%
Chiefs 50%
Blues 45%
Landers 36%
Canes 30%Bulls
Canes 55%
Landers 50%
Crusaders 43%
Blues 33%
Chiefs 30%Lions
Saders 75%
Canes 64%
Blues 63%
Chiefs 50%
Landers 23%Sharks
Saders 67%
Chiefs 40%
Canes 40%
Landers 30%
Blues 18%Edit: The numbers mostly get worse of you limit it to away games since 2010. For example the Landers versus the Lions away lost the lot, as they did against the Stormers (25% against the Sharks). The Canes also lost the lot (4 games) against the stormers away. Blues lost 4 in a row against the Sharks away. Only the Chiefs and Saders really put up a good fight during that time.
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@gt12 Nice, now do the opposite. Their win percentage on the road in comparison.
