Embattled All Blacks coach Ian Foster admitted time is running out for his team to start winning consistently after the New Zealanders endured a first-ever home soil loss to Argentina on Saturday to continue their dismal run of form.
The defeat in Christchurch was the sixth in eight games for the three-time world champions and has reignited scrutiny of Foster after a brief reprieve following their win over South Africa in Johannesburg two weeks ago.
“When you’re trying to build something a little different it takes a while and it’s pretty frustrating, isn’t it?” mused Foster on Sunday. “It’s frustrating I’m sure for the viewers and the fans and it’s frustrating for us. But we have got a lot of faith that some of the things we’re building are paying dividends. But it needs to happen quickly and we know that.”
The teams face off again in Hamilton on Saturday with New Zealand at risk of an unprecedented second home series defeat in a row following their 2-1 loss against Ireland earlier in the year.
The All Blacks lost their final two matches of 2021 against Ireland and France before suffering those two defeats against the Irish in New Zealand.
They then lost against South Africa in their Rugby Championship opener earlier this month before beating the Springboks at Ellis Park a week later.
“We’re all hurting too, none of us like losing,” said Foster. ”I guess the flip side of it is that everyone’s aware that we’re putting some new players in some areas, we’re trying to grow parts of our game that we think we’ve struggled with. We were quite rightly ciriticised last year for being beat up up front in certain games and we’ve made big shifts in that. But we’ve got to put all those learnings into one game and we showed that we can do it in South Africa and we’ve got to do it again in Hamilton.”
Foster also offered his support to under-fire All Blacks captain Sam Cane.
“Clearly he’s under the spotlight, we’re all under the spotlight when things don’t go well. But behind the scenes, he’s strong,” he said. “I thought a lot of his tackle and work around the breakdown was a big shift up from the last two games and we’re pleased with that.” — Reuters
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