With his best poker face on, Ian Foster insisted he was “stoked” with New Zealand’s return Bledisloe Cup performance as his All Blacks side snatched a last-gasp 23-20 win over Australia.
Richie Mo’unga kept the All Blacks’ long unbeaten home streak intact with a 79th minute penalty in Dunedin, breaking Wallabies hearts again.
The Wallabies led for an hour in Dunedin after a rampaging two-try start, and brought the contest back to 20-20 with seven minutes remaining.
“Clearly we were second best by some distance in that first half,” Foster admitted.
The first-half effort, described by some veteran All Blacks watchers as their worst half in many Tests, also created the dynamic that pleased Foster.
New Zealand hadn’t had a close match in their three Tests this season, and the soon-to-be unemployed coach liked what he saw under pressure.
“To come back and show a lot of composure under that sort of scoreboard pressure, and to squeeze them and to win in the last few minutes, I think it’s a great, great lesson for this team,” he said.
“I’m stoked with the win.
“It’s going to hold us in good stead for later on. We all know it wasn’t perfect but we’ll take it.”
Viewed in isolation, the half-time scoreline of 17-3 to Australia was a damning indictment of Foster’s decision to rest 12 players for their final home Test.
Effectively, it was the old guard of Aaron Smith, Dane Coles and Mo’unga who came off the bench to save the Test after a patchy showing from second-stringers like Damian McKenzie.
However, Foster said it was necessary to get some rugby into squad players’ bodies ahead of the World Cup beginning next month.
“I know we made a lot of changes, more than we’ve had for a long time,” he said.
“If we didn’t do this game the way we did it, the danger was is that we’d have a number of players and then a World Cup squad that wouldn’t have played a serious Test match for eight to nine weeks.
“So we knew what we’re doing. And yeah, it was a bit nervous at half-time.
“But wow, the upside of it is we came through it … that’s a good sign too.”
Two injuries also have the potential to give Foster headaches ahead of his World Cup squad naming on Monday.
Brodie Retallick and Braydon Ennor both limped out of the contest with knee injuries.
Foster did not elaborate on their severity beyond saying Braydon was “a bit sorer”
The always dour coach, who will be replaced by Scott Robertson after the World Cup, said the Test didn’t change his opinion on the 33-man squad he will unveil in Napier.
P2R2
Roar Rookie
ok fair point - but 9 new players....vs a WBs at full strength....figures
P2R2
Roar Rookie
No he wasnt...a couple of runs does not constitute he is at his best....Richie is the No.1 No.10 - Mckenzie is on the BENCH
Fox
Roar Guru
Barrett will take the roll and he has been brilliant coming up from full back to be ist recevier this year with nice chips over the top in behind and to the wing. Barret will do the job trust me and he is finally in some very serious good form.
4 of 6
Roar Rookie
The ABs have declined from their game against the Boks. The Wallabies have definitely improved under Eddie Jones the master coach and they are definitely heading in the right direction ….look Eddie is 100% certain and I’m truly sold on that one . Fozzy is a bit delusional, his team only scraped in by 3 points, not very convincing leading up to the RWC. 4 wins means nothing at this stage of the year. Show me the goods at the RWC. The Wallabies under Eddie are looking good under my tunnel vision …….the bookies are talking bs, they know nothing about Rugby, like a few “ don’t talk to me “ journalists.
Emery Ambrose
Roar Rookie
Yep good for those guts to get a run I feel. Good run for ALB and Whitelock, two that are pushing for starting spots. Finau has a big future, liked McLeods contribution. It's not going happen but they almost need to take a 10 like Cameron, J Ioane, Burke instead of Dmac.
Houston
Mackenzie wasn't patchy, he was shocking, in all aspects but nothing was worse than his terrible kicking. If he is the backup flyhalf then NZ have no chance to win the world cup if they have an injury to Richie.
One Eye
Roar Rookie
Australia's?
We Play Now
Roar Rookie
Both teams almost got everything they needed out of the game.... almost everything.
Ankle-tapped Waterboy
Roar Rookie
Interesting that his opinion on the 33 hasn't changed. Next comes a discussion about best positions...
Tooly
Roar Rookie
There was nothing patchy about McKenzie . He was their best .
JeffRo
Roar Pro
For the All Blacks, not their best game of the year, but maybe their most valuable. For Wallabies, step forward as well. Not closing the game out from a strong position is something they can build on, they weren’t far away from winning.