The All Blacks won't be fuelled by a shot at redeeming themselves tomorrow morning when they open their Rugby World Cup campaign against hosts France in Paris — their first match since their record loss to the Springboks.
The 35-7 loss at Twickenham last month was the biggest loss in team history and derailed what had otherwise been a superb season to date in which they won both the Rugby Championship and Bledisloe Cup.
But the defeat sparked plenty of questions from rugby critics, particularly overseas, of a team who is so used to entering the competition as favourites.
Despite all the noise, Foster said it hadn't added any extra fuel to their fire for the campaign ahead.
"I don't think there's a point to prove, in relation to that game," Foster said.
"We're always disappointed, we don't like losing."
Foster pointed out the loss had some caveats worth noting though with their discipline and Tyrel Lomax's injury throwing their gameplans sideways.
"The injuries and the cards caused it to be a very disruptive performance. How much we take out of that is critical," he said.
"[The loss] hasn't altered our trajectory, we don't believe — it was a game stuck in the middle of a break for us [but] we think we needed it."
Foster added he had "no regrets" about the Test and instead viewed it as a learning curve for the side now that the World Cup is upon them.
Tomorrow's Test was "well-scripted" to be the opening match, the All Blacks coach believes, with both sides entering the match knowing how much was at stake.
"This game is special in its own right," he said. "This is my third World Cup and I've never seen a buildup for a (first) game like this one. I've never seen people put so much on it.
"The fact it's a home nation who have strong expectation of winning it, their public have strong expectation of winning it, and it's against a team I sense the public have a lot of respect for."
That respect has developed from a longtime rivalry at Rugby World Cups with tomorrow's contest the eighth time the two teams have clashed on rugby's biggest stage.
The All Blacks have won five of the seven Tests so far — two of which were finals in 1987 and 2011 — and have never lost to Les Bleus in pool play but France have delivered two stinging blows in the past, with knockout wins in 1999 and 2007.
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