BREAKING: Speaking on his desire for retribution during the Ireland quarterfinal, Ian Foster said, “I said I didn’t care in public.”
Speaking on his desire for retribution during the Ireland quarterfinal, Ian Foster said, “I said I didn’t care in public.”
Former All Blacks head coach Ian Foster has disclosed that Ireland was actually his first choice for a quarterfinal opponent at the Rugby World Cup.
The all-important quarter-final matchup between the All Blacks and South Africa, Ireland, or Scotland was long known, as the Rugby World Cup draw placed the top four teams on the same side of the draw. The All Blacks’ series loss to Ireland in 2022, which brought the team under intense scrutiny and made the head coach himself feel vulnerable, created a wellspring of emotion inside the group that inspired them to exact revenge on Ireland.
Foster acknowledged that, “deep down,” he had wanted to play Ireland since the team had a vindictive mentality going into the match. Regarding the All Blacks: “I wanted to play Ireland,” Foster stated According to Their Own Words 2. “I publicly stated that I didn’t care who I played for, Ireland or South Africa, when people asked me who I wanted to play. However, in my subconscious, I desired to face Ireland [in the quarterfinal]. “I believe the audience was anxious, even though they were intelligent enough to anticipate the outcome of the quarterfinal.”
Halfback Aaron Smith told the group at a pre-match All Blacks leadership meeting prior to the quarterfinal that he had been “waiting 18 months” to play this team on the big stage in order to repay them.
Smith remarked, “We’d planned all year on how we could stop Ireland the best we could.” “You could tell the Irish were very confident, and they had every right to be.” Ireland was ranked #1 in the world going into the match and had a 17-game winning streak. After Ireland lost the series 2-1, captain Sam Cane, who also came under intense criticism, expressed his feelings. “Even though, as a team, we don’t discuss these things, we don’t discuss Ireland, you remember it,” Cane remarked.
“You recall the emotions we experienced when we lost in Wellington and Dunedin. We have failed both New Zealand and the jersey.
