New Zealand give coach Ian Foster ‘unanimous’ support to stay through to World Cup

New Zealand Rugby (NZR) have given head coach Ian Foster their “unanimous” support to remain in his post through to the 2023 World Cup.

The boss has come under scrutiny after losing their summer series to Ireland 2-1, which included the first time Ireland have ever beaten the All Blacks in New Zealand. After the series loss in July assistant coaches John Plumtree and Brad Mooar were sacked.

But the governing body have backed Foster in a move which comes days after the coach ended New Zealand’s five-game losing run with a win over current world champions South Africa.

NZR chair Stewart Mitchell said: “[The board] have unanimously agreed they have absolute confidence that Ian and this coaching group are the right people to lead the All Blacks through until the World Cup.

“This has been privately and publicly validated by our players and various conversation with our high performance team.”

Jason Ryan is now the forwards coach and former Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt has been promoted from strategy and attack to full-time assistant coach.

“I’m delighted he’s [Schmidt] here for the right reasons - he complements the group we’ve got,” said Foster. “I just want to remind people it’s a privilege to be in this job. I believe in the plan I’ve got and believe we’ve got great support behind us.”

During the bad run of results for New Zealand, which saw England rise above the All Blacks in the world standings for the first time ever, the media piled on their criticism.

Former New Zealand player Julien Savea came to the boss’ defence on Twitter, saying: “In a country where mental health is a big issue, where 72 per cent of suicides are men and a high number of depression amongst men, you would think people would be a bit kinder.

“Think about their words before they make remarks on someone’s integrity, appearance and character, especially when they don’t know them on a personal level. I’m ashamed that this is how a human is treated and dragged in the media here in NZ.”