The All Blacks head coach for 2024 onwards will be named in four to six weeks, New Zealand Rugby chair Dame Patsy Reddy confirmed this morning.
Reddy’s address to the media at NZ Rugby’s Wellington headquarters in the absence of chief executive Mark Robinson, who is attending World Rugby meetings in the Northern Hemisphere, was effectively a briefing of what was decided – unanimously, she said – at last week’s board meeting.
The decision is a huge blow to the hopes of the incumbent Ian Foster, who made a last-ditch plea in the media last week for the decision to be delayed until after the World Cup in France which kicks off in September.
Ian Foster’s currently in charge, but whether he will be next year will be decided before this year’s World Cup. (Source: 1News)
Reddy said Foster was welcome to apply for the position, but it is doubtful that he will.
He told 1News last week that he couldn’t see himself coaching the All Blacks beyond this year no matter what happens at the World Cup and he may decide to make a point of principle to not be involved in a process he feels is “distracting” to his team’s hopes.
Reddy, New Zeland’s former Governor General, said NZ Rugby had briefed Foster and his management team on the board’s decision: “We’ve told them that and they’re comfortable,” she said.
Senior players had also been talked to and their “feedback heard”, she said.
Reddy said it was important to make a decision now rather than after the World Cup in order to secure the best coaching talent – something NZ Rugby didn’t do in 2019 – and to have clarity ahead of this year’s tournament.
Reddy said the candidates had also been spoken to about the timeframe.
There were, she said, “divergent views on timing. And that neither timing is perfect. We will not comment further until a decision is reached.
“We appreciate these decisions are challenging as we try to find the balance between public scrutiny and high-performance expectations,” she added.
“Until now New Zealand Rugby has been reluctant to talk about the process to protect the integrity of the process and minimise scrutiny on the individuals involved. Recent events, however, necessitate some clarity.”
“We feel it’s for the good of the game that we have certainty now.”
Foster’s almost unprecedented media blitz followed a more subtle one by Crusaders coach Scott Robertson, who just over a fortnight ago said a decision on the process had been made and that it would soon be announced.
He and Foster’s to-and-froing in the public domain has created a spectacle that NZ Rugby clearly wants to put behind them.
Reddy said her organisation would not be speaking further about the process, or who is involved in interviewing the candidates.
The interviewers would feature “independent expertise. It will be robust and very thorough,” she said.
Jamie Joseph is understood to be another on the list, but Reddy would not confirm names or numbers of candidates.
After saying NZ Rugby wanted to protect the integrity of the process she was asked whether it still had integrity after the recent comments by Robertson and Foster and the ensuing media frenzy.
“We’re now coming out to make our point clear,” she said. “It is a confidential process… but we’re not responsible for what others say in the media.”
Asked if Foster, who has overseen wildly fluctuating performances by the All Blacks since he took over from Sir Steve Hansen and was on the brink of being sacked last year, had been treated with respect, she replied: “I’ve done my utmost to ensure that he has.”
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