Jason Pine: How NZ Rugby turned the All Blacks fallout into an even bigger mess

All Blacks coach Ian Foster. Photo / Photosport

OPINION

A phrase that's often used in the All Blacks is "blue heads".

It basically means staying calm in high-pressure situations and avoiding poor decision-making. When someone is blue-headed, they're focused and accurate; by contrast, those in a red-head state become anxious, panicked and desperate.

Since Saturday night's test in Wellington, there's been a significant lack of blue heads.

The fallout from what happened on the field has spilled over into areas it never should have. When current and former NZ Rugby media staffers are firing potshots at one another and justifying their actions (on LinkedIn, of all places), we know things have gone seriously awry.

In case you've been under a rock (perhaps curled up foetally after what played out on Saturday night), a scheduled Sunday morning media conference with coach Ian Foster was canned for reasons which still aren't entirely clear.

The timing of the cancellation is also a bit murky; was that decision made shortly after the final whistle on Saturday night or after sleeping on things on Sunday morning? Regardless, it certainly wasn't communicated to the half-dozen media outlets that sent journalists along, only to find they'd unpacked their cameras and microphones for nothing.

When things aren't going well, the easiest thing to do is go to ground and hope it'll all blow over. But sometimes you have to do what's uncomfortable, because it's the right thing to do for both the situation you find yourself in, and the people you serve.

Should Ian Foster have fronted media on Sunday morning, as scheduled? Yes, of course. It would have taken the heat out of the situation. The fact he didn't meant his absence became the story instead, and fanned the smouldering embers of the night before.

Rather than wanting "blood" as has been suggested, what the rugby media – and by extension the sporting public – were after on Sunday morning was an acceptance that what played out against Ireland was well below the All Blacks' exceptional standards and everything possible would be done to turn things around. The fact we had to wait until much later in the day to get that in the form of an inadequately brief written statement from NZR boss Mark Robinson was a major misreading of the room.

The day no-one turns up for a media conference is when NZ Rugby should really start to worry. The fact there's intense interest in this team and deep scrutiny of their performances is part of what has driven their success for decades.

People care passionately about the All Blacks. To remain silent after one of the worst series losses in recent memory is akin to NZR taking the fans' money and unconditional support, but not holding up their end of the bargain by continuously striving to make this team the best it can be and being transparent about how they're going to do it.

After Saturday, a few people in key positions needed to take a deep breath and think carefully about what needed to be done. They needed to be blue-headed. That they weren't is as much an issue as the plethora of on-field problems that need to be addressed.