Rugby World Cup 2023: Ian Foster outlines lessons All Blacks learning ahead of tournament opener against France

The All Blacks' Rugby World Cup campaign kicks off this week. Photo / Photosport

After being hammered by the Springboks at Twickenham last week, there was one simple lesson Ian Foster and the All Blacks took away from it.

“Have 15 men on the field,” Foster quipped.

“That’s one key lesson and that’s going to be a big lesson going into the World Cup that we all know, but we’ve just got to make sure that we really work hard on the discipline side of the game to keep 15 on 15. If we’ve got 15 on 15, I’m very confident in that space.”

The All Blacks received three yellow cards in the first half of their final hit-out before the World Cup gets under way, the third of which resulted in a red card for lock Scott Barrett after he had already spent time in the sin bin earlier in the game.

The Springboks were smart in their approach to break down the short-handed All Blacks from that point and ran away with a comfortable win.

Simple as it seems, keeping their full contingent on the pitch is something the All Blacks are going to have to be wary of in the weeks ahead.

Discipline has been an area of focus for the side all year, and they have been working with referees in a bid to achieve that.

They kept their act tidy through the Rugby Championship and Bledisloe Cup - being on the right side of the penalty count in three of the four tests in that span - however, they ultimately drew the ire of the referee against the Springboks at Twickenham, who wasn’t shy to go to his pocket.

The penalty count itself wasn’t one-sided by any means - the All Blacks conceding 14 to the Springboks’ 11 - but the manner in which those penalties came, and the fact they couldn’t clean things up when they were hit with the threat of a booking, need to be addressed.

Foster knew as much and said it wouldn’t come as a surprise if other nations see that as an area of weakness in his side for the World Cup.

“The lessons are pretty simple, to be honest. I don’t think there’s anything there that we don’t really know, we’ve just got to get better and better at it. But it’s certainly opened the door for others to come and try to exploit that and we’ve got to make sure we respond.”

After heading to Germany for a brief training camp, the All Blacks made their way to France this weekend as they set their sights on Saturday morning’s tournament opener against the host nation - a team who have historically tested the All Blacks in World Cups and will surely target similar areas exploited by the Springboks.

However, that was a test Foster welcomed, highlighting the need for continual development as a key element to being the nation to take the Webb Ellis Cup home.

“You’ve got to remember that teams have to grow through this tournament,” he said.

“I know we all want to present ourselves at the peak of our powers at the start and we’re all trying to do that, but it’s how we grow through it. You want to be there at the end and to do that you’ve got to get better each day.”

France v All Blacks: Kick-off 7.15am, Saturday

Follow the match at nzherald.co.nz

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