New Zealand rugby boss Mark Robinson has made it clear that the All Blacks’ performance during their series defeat to Ireland, which culminated in successive losses, was “not acceptable” and that an immediate series review will take place to find out what went down. error.
Robinson released a statement Sunday afternoon praising Ireland for their historic triumph while acknowledging that the All Blacks have “an enormous amount of work to do” after suffering their first series defeat at home since 1994.
Coach Ian Foster has come under intense public pressure after the series defeat, which culminated in a 32-22 loss at the Sky Stadium in Wellington on Saturday night.
“Congratulations to the Irish team for their well deserved win last night but it is clear that the series performance for the All Blacks was not acceptable as we know they have reflected,” said Robinson.
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“We all know that there is an enormous amount of work to be done. Our focus now is to work with Ian and his team to thoroughly understand what it takes to improve performance ahead of the Rugby Championship and where from here.
“We are going to start this work right away.
Robinson issued the statement after Foster’s scheduled Sunday morning press conference was abruptly canceled.
Jericho Rock Archer/STUFF
All Blacks coach Ian Foster leaves the team hotel the day after their defeat to Ireland.
Foster would attend his regular briefing where he would be questioned about whether he is still the right person to bring forward for the All Blacks after losing four of the past five tests.
But when reporters gathered outside the team’s hotel in downtown Wellington, the media stand-up was canceled without any official explanation as to why.
Foster was asked by a reporter to explain why his media stand-up stopped going as he walked to the team bus. He replied “no idea”.
Joe Allison/Getty Images
All Blacks first-five Beauden Barrett takes on the defense of Ireland.
Foster had previously declined to answer multiple questions about his future as a coach during the post-game press conference on Saturday.
Foster said twice that he’d rather just talk about the game. “I just want to talk about this test match,” he said.
Foster has been signed for next year’s Rugby World Cup.
The All Blacks lost the series against Ireland 2-1 after losing back-to-back games in Dunedin and Wellington.
They trailed 22-3 at halftime on Saturday after one of their worst first-half performances in recent history.
A late comeback never materialized, despite scoring three tries in the second half to close the deficit to five points at one point before Ireland withdrew.
Attempts at Akira Ioane and Will Jordan, coming in quick succession, were scored when Ireland was reduced to 14 men following prop Andrew Porter’s sin-binning for a head-on collision with Brodie Retallick.
Joe Allison/Getty Images
Irish winger James Lowe lifts the series trophy.
Retallick broke his cheekbone in the collision and now has serious doubts about the Rugby Championship, which is due to start with two tests in South Africa in early August.
Foster’s failure on Sunday-morning meant there was no confirmation when the All Blacks squad would be named for the tournament, nor was there an update on Retallick’s injury and a possible timetable for his return.
Foster was merciful in defeat. In the immediate aftermath of Saturday’s game, he said Ireland “deserved their time in the sun” after taking a famous series win against the All Blacks on New Zealand soil.
“First of all I would like to congratulate Ireland on a series win here,” said Foster.
“We knew it was a big series here when they got here. We’ve been watching them for the last 18 months and they are a high quality rugby team and they were a big test for us.
“In the end we were a bit short of a quality team. We tried hard. We wanted to start well, but again we made some defensive mistakes early on that put a lot of pressure on us.
“We came back really strong but they struggled a bit of momentum at key points in the second half that really kept us from beating us well, and that’s the mark of a confident team that knows their game at this point.
“Obviously we have a bit of work to do.”