Ian Foster hints at more All Blacks management departures

All Blacks coach Ian Foster says the ongoing head coaching saga has adversely affected his management team and hinted the uncertainty surrounding the process led to assistant coach Joe Schmidt ending his interest in the top job and the resignation of long-serving manager Gilbert Enoka.

In an interview with Sky Sport’s The Breakdown last night, Foster, in Paris on a Six Nations fact-finding trip and referees’ meetings ahead of this year’s World Cup, said: “Already you’re starting to see Joe Schmidt announcing he won’t be applying. I think Gilbert Enoka has come out and made a clear decision [to leave].

“Some people really wanted certainty early and didn’t want to be involved in this process, and there might be a few more.”

New Zealand Rugby chairwoman Dame Patsy Reddy said at the start of this month that she expected a new head coach to be announced in four to six weeks, meaning it could come as early as next week.

Scott Robertson and Jamie Joseph are thought to be the two leading candidates.

Foster, who publicly stated just after Reddy’s press conference at NZR’s Wellington headquarters that he would not be re-applying for the job, told The Breakdown that he had organised a two-day management meeting a fortnight ago to discuss the situation.

“We were able to clear the air a little bit and talk about what’s happening and the uncertainty. Because it has created an interesting vibe in the group,” he said.

“We're a little bit unsure yet what the processes are for communicating with that group, but we're tight, we’re really connected.

“The one thing we need to share with people is we’re 100 per cent focused on this World Cup and that’s all we want to do and all we want to be,” he said.

While in France, Foster and two of his assistants Schmidt and Jason Ryan visited the All Blacks’ World Cup base in Lyon.

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Asked about the threat the hosts possess at the tournament which kicks off in Paris in September, Foster said: “It looks, to me, they’ve really got one goal in mind this year and that’s to play well later in the year.

"They have a very passionate country behind them, it’s been amazing how much this country is excited by the World Cup coming up, it’s going to be huge.”