The first All Blacks camp is in Mount Maunganui. Coach Ian Foster speaks to the media about the perks of the region, new players and how he stays motivated.
All Blacks head coach Ian Foster disputes claims that rugby is boring after some of the biggest names in the game believed it was losing its appeal.
Sir Wayne Smith, who guided the Black Ferns to World Cup victory last year and was All Blacks assistant coach for their 2011and 2015 Cup triumphs, recently stopped watching a game on TV “for the first time” out of pure frustration.
It came after Sir Steve Hansen, the victorious 2015 World Cup coach, expressed serious concerns about the state of modern-day rugby in March, saying it lacked entertainment and was in desperate need of change.
Broadcast audiences in New Zealand are reportedly at their highest levels in five years but attendances are suffering an overall decline, albeit with major spikes for specific, high-profile games.
However, Foster, the current All Blacks head coach, said in Mount Maunganui this week he was “excited” by rugby after he was asked about the state of the game and dwindling Super Rugby crowds.
“I’m excited by it,” he told the Bay of Plenty Times. “I think the game is always trying hard to keep up to date with what people want but as you look at the Super Rugby competition unfolded … I think it’s going pretty good.
“The game is always trying to find ways to engage better and I know viewership is up so people are very much engaged. I guess it’s a matter of getting them along to the crowds.
“I thought it was a great feeling at both semifinals last weekend, two big crowds both heavily engaged in the game so I hope it’ll continue on Saturday [for the Super Rugby Pacific final].”
Ardie Savea and Beauden Barrett training with the All Blacks at Blake Park on Wednesday. Photo / Alex Cairns
Foster was this week in Mount Maunganui for training with an All Blacks squad.
Earlier this month, Smith, speaking on The All Blacks Podcast, said he couldn’t face watching the second half of the recent Super Rugby Pacific clash between the Force and the Highlanders in Perth, a match marred by Australian referee Nic Berry’s five yellow cards.
“The standard’s great in terms of the quality of the players around the world but I’m getting frustrated with the game,” Smith said.
“I watched the game that Nic Berry refereed the other day and the arm’s out the whole time, every single play there’s an advantage.
“I turned off a game for the first time in my life at halftime. I don’t know if it got any better in the second half. I just thought it’s not a game I want to watch.”
Meanwhile, Hansen voiced genuine fears about rugby being dominated by defence at the expense of entertainment.
Hansen called for action to be taken before millions of floating fans begin tuning in to see ‘boring’ matches at the World Cup.
“I’ve actually got big concerns about the game at the moment because there are not enough tries being scored, which is turning the fans away,” said Hansen.
“I think there’s a responsibility on the coaches and the players as well. We are trying to get defensive lines up really quickly, but I think we’ve probably gone too far with it.
“There’s a responsibility to the game. If we don’t do that, then we are not going to have any running rugby.
“If we don’t address it, then we are going to get very boring rugby matches.”
Luke Kirkness is an assistant news director for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Postcovering general news. He previously worked at the NZ Herald for three years, mainly as a consumer affairs reporter. He won Student Journalist of the Year in 2019 at the Voyager Media Awards.
