All Blacks reunited as Steve Hansen, Ian Foster eye Japanese club success with Verblitz
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New Zealand players perform a haka before the match between Japan and New Zealand on Oct 26.
PHOTO: REUTERS
TOKYO – Steve Hansen said on Dec 6 that it was “wonderful” to be reunited in Japan with former All Blacks coaching colleague Ian Foster, with the pair having won the Rugby World Cup together.
Hansen and Foster are preparing for their first season co-coaching club side Toyota Verblitz, rekindling a working relationship that saw them spend eight years together with the All Blacks.
Foster served as Hansen’s assistant when New Zealand lifted the World Cup in 2015, before taking over as head coach in 2019 when Hansen left to join Verblitz as director of rugby.
He led the All Blacks to a narrow loss to South Africa in the 2023 World Cup final, before being replaced by current coach Scott Robertson.
Hansen and Foster are together again as they prepare for the start of the Japan Rugby League One season later in December, and Hansen said his colleague had made an “outstanding” start to the job.
“It’s been wonderful to be able to start our relationship back over again,” said Hansen, who will continue as director of rugby while co-coaching with Foster. “We enjoy coaching together. He’s someone I trust immensely, understands the game as good as anybody in world rugby.”
Foster endured a rocky build-up to the 2023 World Cup and Robertson was announced as his replacement before the tournament began. He refused to reapply for the job because he thought it should be handled after the World Cup and felt it was an unnecessary distraction.
Looking forward, the 59-year-old said he was joining a “great organisation” at Verblitz, who finished seventh in last season’s 12-team championship table.
“It’s been well led by Steve and the people in Toyota are really passionate,” said Foster. “I’ve walked into an organisation that is really determined to grow.”
Hansen also said there would be “no role division” between him and Foster in the coaching box.
“Within the team itself, he’s the yin and I’m the yang, and sometimes I’m the yin and he’s the yang,” he added. “That’s how we’ve always operated.”
In other rugby news, South African Rugby (SA Rugby) failed on Dec 6 to seal a US$75 million (S$100 million) deal with American private equity company Ackerley Sports Group.
Needing 10 of the 13 votes from regional rugby bosses at a special meeting in a leafy Cape Town suburb for the deal to go through, the national body announced that it had received only six.
The proposal involved creating a new commercial company in partnership with SA Rugby. Cash injections would have been made over a number of years, starting with US$35 million. AFP, REUTERS