Back to the drawing board for Ian Foster’s frustrated All Blacks
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New Zealand coach Ian Foster looks dejected after the 27-13 Rugby World Cup opening loss to France.
PHOTO: REUTERS
PARIS – New Zealand coach Ian Foster said on Saturday he remained confident of his side’s chances at the Rugby World Cup, despite Friday’s 27-13 loss to hosts France
Hot on the heels of a record 35-7 defeat by world champions South Africa in their final warmup game, the All Blacks lost a perfect record in World Cup pool matches that went back to the first tournament in 1987.
“Stats are stats and I understand all that, but in the past we’ve won all the pool games but not necessarily won the tournament... the goal is to win a tournament,” Foster insisted.
“There are some aspects we’re going to have to rebuild a bit. We need to be a bit better. Some good lessons.
“But we’re not down in the sheds, we’re just frustrated that we lost a game. We fired some good bullets at them, we just didn’t fire enough.”
While he was pleased with some aspects of the game, he pinpointed scrum penalties, players getting isolated and some wasted opportunities at the end of the first half when they had the French on the ropes as areas that needed improvement.
Foster was also disappointed with New Zealand’s discipline in the second half, when winger Will Jordan was yellow carded and then gave away another penalty for dangerous challenges in the air.
The All Blacks suffered a blow when Sam Cane was withdrawn from the match just before kick-off with a back injury suffered in training on Thursday, but Foster did not think his captain would be sidelined for long.
“It’s just a back strain, the back’s gone into a little bit of spasm,” he said. “It doesn’t look too serious at this stage.”
Next up for the three-time world champions is Namibia in Toulouse on Friday, before also facing Italy and Uruguay.
Ardie Savea, who took on the captaincy in Cane's absence, was taking some encouragement from South Africa's last World Cup campaign.
“South Africa lost in 2019 the first game against us and went on to win the competition,” he said.
“We are obviously frustrated we lost tonight.
“We lost the battle but there’s still the war to be won.”
Despite their struggles, the All Blacks started well, scoring a try after just 94 seconds via Mark Telea.
Les Bleus then brought the Stade de France to the boil after their timid first half, turning on the style when it mattered to make a giant leap towards securing top spot in Pool A.
They scored two tries through Damian Penaud and Melvyn Jaminet while the boot of fullback Thomas Ramos made the difference with 17 points.
New Zealand had two Telea tries and a sole penalty by Richie Mo’unga to show for themselves.
Fabien Galthie was relieved his team eventually managed to shake off the huge pressure at the start.
“It was important to start the competition well,” said the France coach, whose side will take on Uruguay on Thursday.
“We felt there was a lot of pressure in the first half, we were a bit nervous... and it took us time to relax and they scored quickly and easily.
“Let’s not get carried away, even if it’s a positive result.” REUTERS, AFP
