Loss leaves Foster flailing
His All Blacks suffer historic series defeat by Ireland and have just one win in last five Tests
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WELLINGTON • New Zealand's first home series defeat for 28 years has put even more pressure on their coach Ian Foster, who argued that disruptions in preparations caused his side to again be outplayed by Ireland in yesterday's third Test in Wellington.
Despite a three-try fightback by the All Blacks in the second half, a 32-22 victory for the Irish gave the visitors a 2-1 series win after bouncing back from a comprehensive first Test defeat in Auckland with a maiden victory (23-12) on New Zealand soil in Dunedin a week ago.
It means New Zealand have lost a home Test series for the first time since being beaten twice by France in 1994. It was also the first time they had lost two in a row at home since 1998, when they fell to South Africa in Wellington and then suffered another defeat by Australia in Christchurch a week later.
Asked if he was still the right man to take the team forward, Foster replied: "I'm only here to talk about the game. We have to analyse this series, we had a number of disruptions to our original plans (as several players and staff including himself were sidelined by Covid-19 in the build-up to the first Test).
"We weren't getting enough big moments and we certainly didn't get the starts we wanted."
Less than 14 months from the start of the Rugby World Cup in France, this was Foster's seventh defeat in 24 internationals since taking charge in 2020.
The All Blacks have won just one of their last five Tests after losses to Ireland and France on their European tour last November.
It leaves pundits in New Zealand questioning if Foster can hang on to his job ahead of next month's two matches in South Africa at the start of the Rugby Championship.
All Blacks captain Sam Cane said he was "gutted" with the outcome.
"We're extremely disappointed, but we can't take anything away from Ireland," he said.
"They've been outstanding this last couple of weeks. They were too good for us tonight and we've got some work to do. We're bloody sorry that we couldn't put the performances out there that you (the fans) deserve."
Ireland scored three tries via Josh van der Flier, Hugo Keenan and Robbie Henshaw before half-time to lead 22-3 and held their nerve as New Zealand stormed back with three of their own after the break.
Ardie Savea, Akira Ioane and Will Jordan were the All Blacks scorers.
Having looked muddled in attack and clueless on defence for 40 minutes, New Zealand fought back after half-time, trailing 25-22 entering the final quarter of the match.
But they could not push on against a visiting side who created breathing room when Rob Herring crossed for their fourth try and held firm to complete one of the great series rebounds.
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New Zealand have lost consecutive home Tests for the first time since 1998.
The victory - Ireland's fifth in their last eight meetings with the All Blacks - establishes Andy Farrell's team as leading contenders to win next year's World Cup.
"They will talk about this for a long time, this is a special group and this is the toughest thing to do in world rugby," said the coach.
"We said it was going to be the start of our World Cup year, but it feels bigger than that. Even after the first game... we've believed we can beat anyone."
In Sydney, England outwitted and outfought an error-prone Australia 21-17 to win their series 2-1.
Young guns Freddie Steward and Marcus Smith scored the tries as England coach Eddie Jones masterminded a second series victory over his own country after their 3-0 sweep in 2016. Australia's tries came via Tom Wright and Folau Fainga'a, but their accuracy deserted them too frequently.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS
