Rugby-All Blacks making progress despite defeats, says coach Foster

"I know we get judged harshly, but we're making progress." New Zealand won The Rugby Championship in October ahead of Australia and world champions South Africa with five victories from six matches before starting their northern hemisphere tour with a huge win over the United States in Washington.


Reuters | Updated: 21-11-2021 08:46 IST | Created: 21-11-2021 08:46 IST
Rugby-All Blacks making progress despite defeats, says coach Foster

New Zealand coach Ian Foster believes his All Blacks team is improving despite suffering back-to-back losses against Ireland and France at the end of their northern hemisphere tour. Foster's team were handed a 40-25 loss by the French in Paris on Saturday a week after slipping to a 29-20 reversal against the Irish to finish the year on a low.

"There's no denying the last two weeks were tough for us," said Foster, according to stuff.co.nz. "We came across two very good teams at the end of our season and they played well.

"If you look at our year, how do I feel about the progress? We've played more tests than we've ever played, and we've won 12 out of 15. "I know we get judged harshly, but we're making progress."

New Zealand won The Rugby Championship in October ahead of Australia and world champions South Africa with five victories from six matches before starting their northern hemisphere tour with a huge win over the United States in Washington. The All Blacks then notched up victories over Wales and Italy before concluding their overseas campaign with losses in Dublin and Paris.

"The one thing you've got to do is not get too downhearted by the last two weeks," said Foster. "It hurts like anything and I know we haven't got the results everyone wants, but I thought tonight we showed better composure in coming back into the game.

"We've still got a number of people who are learning what it's like up here. We've learnt some lessons but we've got to deal with the pressure game better than what we're doing at the moment." After a schedule that has seen southern hemisphere sides play in The Rugby Championship before embarking on their respective tours, Foster felt fatigue had taken its toll.

"If you look at the balance of it, look at South Africa and Australia and us, we've probably all run out of juice a little bit near the end," he said. "But, gee, the top six or seven teams in world rugby right now are strong."

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Give Feedback