{"id":156093,"date":"2025-09-20T07:07:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-20T07:07:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/156093\/"},"modified":"2025-09-20T07:07:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-20T07:07:09","slug":"exerpt-from-ian-fosters-new-book-raises-eyebrows-ahead-of-bledisloe-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/156093\/","title":{"rendered":"Exerpt from Ian Foster’s new book raises eyebrows ahead of Bledisloe Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Wallabies head coach Joe Schmidt and All Blacks<\/a> counterpart Scott Robertson<\/a> expressed nothing but respect for one another when they clashed in Test rugby for the first time in the 2024 Bledisloe Cup, but there may be a hint of residual tension beneath that surface.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a history between the two coaches that isn\u2019t without friction, as evidenced by former All Blacks head coach Ian Foster\u2019s new book, Leading Under Pressure,\u00a0which details Foster\u2019s tumultuous tenure as All Blacks head coach between 2020 and 2024.<\/p>\n

The book features quotes from a handful of individuals involved during that period, including Schmidt, who joined Foster\u2019s staff as attack coach in 2022 after Ireland\u2019s famous series win in New Zealand, which triggered staffing changes and almost cost Foster the top job.<\/p>\n

In the time between Schmidt\u2019s 2022 recruitment and New Zealand<\/a> Rugby\u2019s 2023 appointment of Robertson as Foster\u2019s successor, there were some poorly navigated moments, as reflected by Schmidt.<\/p>\n

For Schmidt, those moments didn\u2019t reflect all too kindly on the then-Crusaders<\/a> head coach, and didn\u2019t exactly make life any easier for Foster, who was facing harsh criticism for the All Blacks\u2019 record with him at the helm.<\/p>\n

The Sydney Morning Herald highlighted the following quotes in an article published on Saturday morning, with the piece later featuring on New Zealand outlet Stuff\u2019s website, bringing attention to it on both sides of the Tasman Sea.<\/p>\n

\u201cA big part of it was about integrity,\u201d The book quotes Schmidt as saying. \u201cThe pressure that was being exerted was contributed to by not just New Zealand Rugby, but people aiming up at \u2018Fozzie\u2019 [Foster].<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a podcast \u2013 with Jim Hamilton<\/a> and Scott Robertson. That\u2019s in the public domain. That was a pressure point and an advertisement that he [Robertson] wanted to win the World Cup with two different teams.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd he [Robertson] applied pressure by starting an interview with \u2018Bula\u2019 when there was talk of the Fijian job being open. That was happening in the foreground, not the background. That was the tip of the iceberg, and it was bloody awkward for Foz.\u201d<\/p>\n

The \u2018Bula\u2019 quote Schmidt referenced came about when Robertson was asked for an update on his coaching future in February 2023.<\/p>\n

\u201cBula,\u201d he grinned, greeting reporters at Crusaders HQ as speculation swirled around Ian Foster\u2019s future with the All Blacks. \u201cI\u2019m just waiting for NZR to make the announcements, really. You have conversations in the background, but as an employee, (it\u2019s about) understanding how important it is that you go through clear processes. What I\u2019m saying is, hopefully, we\u2019ll know in the next few days.\u201d<\/p>\n

The coach then confirmed, with a grin, that he had received confirmation on what the future held, news which came as a revelation to the Kiwi public, and that didn\u2019t go down well with New Zealand Rugby. The governing body was forced to issue a statement clarifying the situation, saying, \u201can announcement about the All Blacks head coach or process is not imminent.\u201d<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t until March 21st that New Zealand Rugby announced Robertson as the next All Blacks head coach, following a \u201crobust interview process\u201d. Foster did not engage in the process, removing himself from contention for the head coach role beyond the 2023 Rugby World Cup<\/a> and publicly disagreeing with its timing, labelling it as a potential distraction for staff and players in a World Cup year.<\/p>\n

New Zealand Rugby previously had a policy of appointing or re-appointing All Blacks coaches after a Rugby World Cup campaign had concluded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Wallabies head coach Joe Schmidt and All Blacks counterpart Scott Robertson expressed nothing but respect for one another…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":156094,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-156093","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156093","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=156093"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156093\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/156094"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=156093"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=156093"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=156093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}