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All Blacks coach Ian Foster has given his verdict on the development of code-hopper Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, whether he sees Jordie Barrett as a potential Test No.12 and the key area where other teams have caught up his as the focus narrows ahead of the 2023 World Cup.
In a fascinating hour long chat on the All Blacks Podcast over the weekend, Foster talked about his life in rugby before being brought back to the nitty gritty of the immediate future. The All Blacks will name a squad on Monday June 13, after the Super Rugby semifinals have been decided.
Foster said the current World Cup cycle has differed from previously, but he believes his team is tracking well.
“We’ve had the first two years of a World Cup cycle,” he said. “Generally you’re trying to establish your game, get everything smooth, often the third year is about building some depth, and then the fourth year is about go and do it.
“We’ve had to flip that over. The first year we only had six Tests. Last year we had 15, but we were away from home. We had 40 players because of Covid quarantine and all that stuff.
“So we went to a depth strategy last year (because) we were kind of forced to.
“This year we are going to narrow the squad down a little bit – it won’t be 40, we’re probably going to go with 36 at this stage. It’s about building the combinations and getting a little bit more consistency in selection.
“That’s kind of our flow – a little different to previous World Cups. We’re in a great spot now that have had a taste of it and now we’re narrowing it down.”
He said the series against Ireland would be vital to this cycle, and expected a tougher challenge than what the All Blacks might generally expect from a northern hemisphere touring team at this time of the season.
The All Blacks ended 2021 with a 29-20 loss to the Irish in Dublin and then defeat against France.
“We’re still hurting from the last two last year and we’re pretty proud of what we did last year but the last two… we’ve got to take those lessons and we have to go straight into it,” Foster said.
“We know we’ve got an Irish team based around Leinster and they have a lot of cohesion in that team and will come in really prepared so we have a series with some real meat in it.
“In the past we might have had tired teams come down here. This is going to be a fantastic Test for us. “
Foster was asked if one of his priorities was to come with an effective plan to counter the rush defence which has been used successfully to blunt their attack.
“Every time we lose it gets chucked up,” Foster said. “There is no doubt the rush defence is getting quicker every time.
“It’s really uncomfortable to play against and no one likes it. You can use a northern hemisphere equation of playing against it by saying let’s just kick everything – in other words let’s not play against it but just keep turning them around.
“Our DNA is always we want to play – give us the ball, we want to be better than that.
“That gets us into trouble, we’ve all seen that, so the last five or six years we’ve been working hard on getting the balance of our kicking game and running game.
“We’re instinctively a wider passing team, we like the big passes and creating space whereas against line speed you get smacked. “
He said the All Blacks needed to make adjustments from what works in Super Rugby.
“Some of our instincts that potentially come out of Super Rugby and they come up into the international stage against those sorts of teams and suddenly they don’t quite work,” he said.
“So [it’s about] breaking some habits. We’ve got to learn some new habits there which we’ve been working on and we’ve got to work hard on the length of our pass and how we kick against some of these teams.”
Foster warned that other teams had been catching up on the All Blacks in the areas of speed and skill, “two aspects that we’ve probably historically been No.1 in world in.”
“I’m talking speed around the park and speed to do things, and generally All Black players have been really skillful.
“We just think they are the two areas that if we looked at it now we see other teams in other competitions are starting to catch up because they’re putting a lot of effort into those two areas.
“I look at the experience last year. We had a great rugby championship, went up to the UK and we weren’t able to be fast in those last two Tests and played two teams that were fast and really quite skillful.
“It’s just a little bit of an uppercut for us that some things we’ve taken for granted – we’re getting players through who are having to learn that at the international stage that we need to keep climbing the level.
“Some of the work we’re doing at the Super Rugby franchises has been outstanding but we need to keep driving that and growing that.”
While not wanting to get too involved with selection talk, Foster did buy into questions about Tuivasa-Sheck, who has had some highs since joining the Blues from the NRL.
“We’re pleased with Roger’s growth, particularly defensively he looks reasonably settled,” Foster said.
“It doesn’t mean he gets everything right but he’s certainly good on the carry stuff. He’s probably still learning how to link and get the passing game . I’m not sure the state of his kicking game because I haven’t seen it yet.
“But I know he’s an outstanding guy, he’s doing a great job in the Blues. We’ve had some connections with him, and I know he’s in a great spot. We’ve just got to look at his progress and, particularly, the next four or five weeks will be critical in that.”
Roger Tuivasa-Scheck. (Photo by Joe Allison/Getty Images)
He said the selectors had watched with interest as All Blacks fullback Jordie Barrett had played at No.12 for the Hurricanes this season but suggested he won’t be making the same move at international level.
“To be honest it hasn’t excited me that he’s gone into there but that’s okay,” he said.
“He’s played 12 before, he quite enjoys it and if it stimulates him that’s great and I’m interested to see if it’s an option for us long term because it might become one.
“I guess the clue I’d give you is I thought he was one of our best All Blacks last year. If you start thinking about a World Cup in France, big stadiums, you have to have a back three that defuses high balls and has got a great kicking game, and is strong defensively. He ticks those boxes. I still love him as a 15 but are we willing to consider some option at 12 , yes we are?”
Foster said the two hardest selections will come at No.9 where he has at least five men jostling for positions, and at loosehead prop.
Elsewhere he’s been boosted by the form of Rieko Ioane.
“We’ve see a massive growth in Rieko the last few months,” said Foster.
“We’ve had some great conversations. He thinks he’s a 13 playing wing and I think he’s a wing playing 13 but people grow.
“He’s learnt some things about playing at 13, and I thought he finished the year strongly for us. He’s really taken his game to a different level with what we’ve seen so far in Super Rugby, so I’m excited by that.”
He also discussed the claims of Dalton Palalii and Ardie Savea.
“We’re open to ideas. Love Dalton, love what he’s doing, loved him last year . Thought he really put his hand up as an international seven. He’s growing a lot,” Foster said.
“There’re a lot of different styles of loose forwards that we’ve got. It is an area where we could be looking at a little mix and matching.
“We see Ardie as an 8 and as a 7. I love him as a player, he’s dynamic. There are some massive strengths for him at 8 at the moment because it can free him up a little bit with his ball carrying.”
Asked if there could be a bolter when the team is named in a fortnight, he added: “I don’t think there will be a name pop up way outside the square that people aren’t used to. Is there a potential for some new All Blacks? The answer is yes.”