All Blacks coach Ian Foster says he accepts criticism and stress are a part of the job as New Zealand Rugby CEO Mark Robinson responded to critics of his media appearances addressing the coaching saga.
The pair took questions on Wednesday after it was announced that Foster had been give the "unanimous backing" of the board to lead the team through to next year's Rugby World Cup.
"I'm delighted to get strong support from both Robbo (NZR CEO Mark Robinson) and the board for us going forward," Foster said at a press conference on Wednesday.
"It's clearly been a difficult time, the start of this campaign... We didn't get what we wanted against Ireland and that created a lot of performance stress.
"That's part of my job and I expect to be grilled in that space."
READ MORE: Foster survives as NZR backs All Blacks coach through to World Cup
Foster went on to say that he fully accepts the pressure and speculation around his job, and "that's the accountability that I guess I demand of my players, and to be fair it's been demanded of me".
"I'd rather it wasn't there, but that's where we live in the real world and I'm under pressure to perform so, I don't mind that."
He went on to say the team were a very tight group and they've been significantly supported by ex-All Blacks.
"We have made some changes, and we're continuing to keep evaluating our group to make sure we've got what we need going through to the World Cup.
"For us it's an exciting period and we just can't wait to get back into work."
Robinson said he was in a no-win situation in fronting media on Sunday to address the ongoing speculation around Ian Foster’s position. (Source: 1News)
Robinson was less accepting of the media's response to speculation surrounding Foster's role, saying "lots of people have got lots of views on different things at the moment, and we deal with speculation all the time, and it's been a couple of years where we're dealing with some really unprecedented issues just constantly".
"It's difficult, isn't it? If you don't say things and you want to think of the best interests of the team and wait 'til they get out of the country, you're criticised for going missing in action.
"If you turn up and you do have something to say when you're not in a really strong position to say a lot of things, you're criticised for having to be in a position where you're not saying enough."
Robinson went on to add that they might not get everything right sometimes, but it said it is "not through a lack of commitment".
FULL VIDEO: NZR hold news conference as Foster remains coach
"We are constantly trying to balance the need to be engaging and open and transparent... and the reality is we're dealing with a whole lot of aspects of the situation which frankly we can't share a lot about.
"We acknowledge we haven't got everything right, I don't think we're hiding from that."
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