Gregor Paul: All Blacks mess fuelled by Ian Foster's blind spot

All Blacks head coach Ian Foster (R) and John Plumtree (L) watch warm up during the International Test match between the New Zealand All Blacks and Ireland. Photo / Photosport.co.nz

OPINION:

These days most of the All Blacks are devout followers of the best-selling author Brene Brown whose thoughts about leadership and vulnerability resonate deeply with those who believe they possess a growth mind-set.

Brown's whole thrust is that courage can be measured by vulnerability. She believes that the extent to which someone is prepared to expose their vulnerability is a sign of the depth of their courage and when it comes to institutions, she says creativity and innovation can only be achieved if the organisation is prepared to fail.

The popular musings of an American academic may be an unlikely guide to saving the All Blacks from their current plight, but there is little doubt that all those in leadership roles in both the national team and indeed the national governing body, are currently in need of strategic and emotional guidance to plot their way to a better future.

This idea of vulnerability being the measure of courage is entirely apt as the reason the All Blacks are in the mess they are in, is because there has been a failure to address prevailing issues of coaching competency for fear that to admit there is a problem, may be perceived as weakness.

This has been Ian Foster's blind spot and potentially the reason he has the metaphoric noose around his neck.

He allowed loyalty to become blind loyalty with his refusal to make changes to his wider coaching team early this year in the face of strong and damning evidence to do so.

The All Blacks were beaten up by Argentina in 2020 and then by South Africa, Ireland and France in 2021.

New Zealand All Blacks coach Ian Foster. Photo / Photosport.co.nz

Forwards coach John Plumtree and scrum coach Greg Feek reviewed poorly at the end of the 2020 season and then again at the end of 2021.

Those who know a thing or two about the nature of these reviews, say the feedback from the players was scathing, indicative of there being a serious issue rather than mild concerns.

High performance is an evidential realm and in this case the results combined with the feedback told the only story.

There was no alternative narrative and yet Foster concocted one, and successfully argued that he could up-skill the two stragglers, provide on-the-job development opportunities and that he would also bring in Andrew Strawbridge as a consultant to address some of the holes in the coaching portfolio.

His loyalty to his people was admirable, but so too was it misguided as the All Blacks can't be a finishing school for aspiring coaches.

He missed the chance to display his courage through his vulnerability: the opportunity was there to say after last year, that the set-up wasn't right, that changes needed to be made and he had to be brave enough to search and work with new people.

Change is now coming, but the damage of not doing it earlier has been considerable and the question must be asked whether Foster, having been such a staunch resistor, has the requisite growth mind-set that the job he holds requires.

Head coach of the All Blacks Ian Foster looks on following the International Test match between the New Zealand All Blacks and Ireland. Photo / Getty Images.

In an at times emotional speech to the media on Friday afternoon, he described himself as strong, resilient, strategic and accountable – attributes he undoubtedly possesses.

But what he really needs to be most of all is vulnerable because he is going to have to embrace whatever change is coming in his coaching team and not silently resist it.

He is going to have to be brave enough to keep evaluating his selections and be brave enough to do more than just reinstate Ethan de Groot as there are three other props at the Crusaders – Fletcher Newell, Oli Jager and Tamaiti Williams – who scream out as the future of the All Blacks yet they remain in the cold.

It's just as relevant to ask at this juncture, how Foster was able to resist making the changes to his coaching team that the evidence said he needed to.

Arguably, Foster needed to be saved from his own decency and desire to protect those around him and for whom he felt responsible.

The choice should have been taken out of his hands and when he presented a plan to persevere with his beleaguered assistants, the answer from New Zealand Rugby chief executive Mark Robinson should have been no.

Robinson and his board also had to be vulnerable enough to admit that the set-up wasn't working. They had to be brave enough to say that the judgement call they made to extend the contracts of the entire coaching team midway through 2021 had turned out to be the wrong decision.

There was no shame in that. No fault that they backed a group they believed in, but that it then transpired that some of them hadn't developed the way they needed to. Coaching appointments are as much an art as they are a science and some times being patient pays off and at others, it doesn't.

The mistake was seeing their previous decision to extend the contracts as a mistake and then failing to address that situation quickly, professionally and cleanly.

More tough decisions lie along the way for all those in leadership roles and the pathway to success is only going to be found by having the strength to be vulnerable.