In his new autobiography, former All Blacks coach Ian Foster details his battles with New Zealand Rugby, including contract issues, commercial disagreements, and a deteriorating relationship with the organisation that became “irrevocably broken” by the end of his stint.
Ian Foster’s frustrations and disillusionment with New Zealand Rugby top-brass started even before his first test coaching the All Blacks.
Infact, the first time he felt let down by the organisation’s leadership came just hours before the opening international of what turned out to be a rocky four-year tenure coaching the men in black.
In his new autobiography Leading Under Pressure - which has been released today - the ex-All Black coach has opened up about his rise to the job – a promotion that divided some rugby fans – the triumphs of his tenure, and the many battles he had with New Zealand Rugby (NZR) bosses.
That included how close he came to being sacked almost a year out from the 2023 Rugby World Cup - with the messy employment wrangle being played out in public – and how much the workings of NZR hurt his family.
Foster reveals during the 2022 Rugby Championship he was invited to a breakfast meeting with NZR chief executive Mark Robinson and head of high performance Mike Anthony before that day’s All Blacks test against the Wallabies.
It was the side’s first test under Foster’s reign and also the first time they had played since the country’s borders had been effectively locked down because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Foster recalls in the book he woke “excited” and headed off to the breakfast with his bosses thinking it was going to be for a “general conversation”, including how the side’s coaching, management and playing staff were and to “let me know they were as excited as we were to have finally reached the start line in 2020”.
Foster – who had signed with NZR on an initial two-year contract – wrote how those upbeat thoughts evaporated when Robinson bluntly told him on the morning of a test match that NZR wouldn’t consider extending his coaching team’s contracts until their current deals had expired.
“I was flabbergasted,” Foster wrote, a sentiment he was to feel many times over in his dealings with NZR.
“For one thing, if they wanted to deliver bad news, then this was not a great time to do it. I thought that would have been obvious, but apparently not.”
In previous Rugby World Cup cycles, NZR had extended coaching contracts based on results at the end of the first season of the deal.
Under the news that Robinson and Anthony delivered, Foster and his coaching team would have to work through to December 2021, before knowing if they still had a job for January 2022 and through to the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
Aside from the timing, what made the contents of the breakfast conversation harder to stomach for Foster was it coming after “significant pay cuts” the entire backroom team had taken as NZR looked to save money during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Staff at NZR and players and coaches took pay cuts amid fears the organisation’s income would drop by up to 70%. NZR also made about 90 staff members redundant.
Foster’s coaching and management team took pay cuts of about 40%, with the head coach volunteering to go “down lower than everyone else”.
“The decision itself felt cold and uncaring, especially given what we’d all been through earlier in the year,” Foster added of Robinson and Anthony’s message.
Foster’s rise to being head coach of the All Blacks wasn’t an especially smooth one, dividing opinion among rugby fans.
Those who backed Foster to take charge after Sir Steve Hansen stepped down following the 2019 Rugby World Cup argued he provided great continuity, having been an assistant for eight years.
But there was a large group who wanted fresh thinking in the guise of Scott Robertson; the man who was then the Crusaders coach, who almost replaced him midway through 2022 and who eventually took over after the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
Foster’s first battle with officialdom came after getting the top job, with sections of NZR top-brass – who were looking to increasingly monetise the All Blacks - opposing his retention of the respected Gilbert Enoka as the All Blacks’ mental skills coach.
Foster writes in Leading Under Pressure the opposition came from Enoka’s previous work under Hansen where he would “evaluate the potential impact commercial ventures could have on the value of our history”.
“There were occasions when he pushed back on that front, arguing that some of these ventures would devalue the All Blacks’ history and prestige and negatively impact the ability of the team to keep winning.”
Foster said Robinson made “it clear he wanted Bert out”.
“I saw a rapid physical transition in Robbo: his body language and mannerisms changed, his voice became louder and more forceful, and he got angry and made a number of forceful points about the importance of the commercial department and detailing why Bert had to go.”
It was a battle Foster won, but not without realising there was a “lack of alignment” and a “divide” between the All Blacks and sections of NZR.
It isn’t the only commercial-related issue Foster locked horns with NZR top-brass on during his tenure as coach.
He describes the wrangle over the contentious Silver Lake private equity deal, his player’s uncertainty over it and how he believed NZR bosses painted players who spoke out with their concerns as being greedy.
Foster contends “the deteriorating relationship between the All Blacks and NZR did affect the team”.
After NZR signed a sponsorship deal with INEOS, he was asked to “move out” an assistant conditioning coach as they also had a part-time role with Team New Zealand.
INEOS was the naming-rights sponsor of 2021 America’s Cup challenger Britannia.
Foster wrote how Altrad – front-of-jersey sponsor on the All Blacks’ playing kit – got their deal for an “incredible price”.
“It was another company owned by a billionaire, in this case Mohed Altrad,” he wrote. “Whoever pays the piper calls the tune, and these two deals, with two billionaires, I felt left the All Blacks vulnerable to the whims of rich and powerful men who were entirely used to getting their own way.”
Foster is also forthright in his book about what he says was a “branding mistake” by NZR nine years before he took charge when the national body decided to rebrand the New Zealand Sevens and New Zealand Māori teams as the All Blacks Sevens and Māori All Blacks teams.
Foster said “the decision was made to effectively dilute the power of the All Blacks” brand.
Foster’s battle in retaining his job in the face of calls for Robertson to take charge – and his anger at how it was played out in public - midway through the 2022 test season was detailed in an extract from his book which the Herald published on Saturday.
It heightened as the All Blacks were in South Africa for a duo of tests against the Springboks.
And in the book Foster detailed how senior All Blacks – furious the man they wanted as coach could be dumped - fronted Robinson for a meeting in his hotel room in Johannesburg.
He felt let down by NZR bosses how the saga played out, and the impact that it had on his family.
By the end, his relationship with rugby bosses was “irrevocably broken”.
In Leading Under Pressure, he makes no secret of how he was left hugely disappointed by Robinson for comments he made even before the All Blacks left for the two tests in South Africa.
The All Blacks were on the end of a historic first-ever series defeat to Ireland before they headed to South Africa.
The morning after the third test – which Ireland won 32-22 – Foster didn’t have his usual morning-after press briefing; a decision which was made by one of the All Blacks’ media team.
“She thought she was helping me out – that the media could smell blood and that a media conference would just be a feeding frenzy.”
It was a decision which left journalists frustrated, adding to the pressure Foster was under from sections of the media and rugby fanbase.
Instead, Robinson had a brief media conference.
Foster learnt about it when the chief executive rang him while he was waiting for a plane, with the then All Black coach writing: “My memory of the conversation is that Robbo said he was going to say something about the way the series had played out, but he wasn’t clear about the specifics, other than he suggested it would reflect that no one was happy.”
About an hour later Foster fielded a call from someone telling him the contents of Robinson’s media conference, including how he branded the way the All Blacks played as “not acceptable”.
Foster said he was “gutted”, describing it an “us and them statement” and said it showed how “the divide that had been gradually widening between NZR and the All Blacks was now a chasm”.
“What Robbo’s statement did was create a lot more angst,” Foster wrote in Leading Under Pressure.
“It created another narrative for the media to exploit – one that suggested there was division between the All Blacks and NZR. That empowered everyone to speculate even more fervently on whether I was going to be sacked.
“These days, if people ever ask me whether the job of All Blacks head coach was a lonely one, I think back to those two hours. Honestly, I have never felt so alone in all my life.”
Neil Reid is a Napier-based senior reporter who covers general news, features and sport. He joined the Herald in 2014 and has 33 years of newsroom experience.
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