“I’ve thought about that and I reckon that there is scope for that,” said Foster. “If you think about it, that’s what the British Lions are.
“It’s sort of an esteemed team from four countries and it’s not a regular thing, but it’s one where you create a special environment and I think rugby loves special environments and special occasions.
“Maybe down the track there is room for something like this to be added into a calendar and it’s a combined Southern Hemisphere team versus a combined Northern Hemisphere team ... [it] would be quite an interesting battle.”
After the 2026 Super Rugby Pacific season, Kiss will take over as Wallabies coach, replacing Joe Schmidt.
Foster said he’s been impressed with what he’s seen.
“He’s empowering the players and he does a good job with his group,” said Foster.
“He’s also got Simon Cron, who’s the Western Force head coach, and ... they’re a great group.
“They’re pretty clear about how they go about their work and it’s been nice to be a little bit of the fly in the ointment at times.”
The team formed only at the start of the week, giving them limited time to prepare to face the Lions, but Foster says the group are pumped for the challenge.
He says lots of the planning so far has been around connecting the dots to figure out the style of play they want to achieve.
Foster admits he’s enjoyed coaching some familiar faces again.
“It’s great to see some people again and ... [I’m] really enjoying [it],” said Foster.
“But equally, I’ve been excited about working with some of the Australian players, because it’s players that [I] sort of coached against a number of them for a while and then certainly watched them.
“It’s always a cool experience for a coach when you get to shake their hand and start working with them and hear a few things about how they see the game and how they see the world and it just opens your eyes up a little bit.”
Ben Francis is an Auckland-based reporter for the New Zealand Herald who covers breaking sports news.
