The Silver Fern

@KiwiMurph said in All Blacks 2026:

@tubbyj said in All Blacks 2026:

Why not Foster was he not the head coach and ultimately responsible?

Presumably because the belief was that with stronger assistant coaches (i.e. Schmidt and Ryan) that they could turn things around. They went from losing a home series vs Ireland to knocking over Rassie's Boks at Ellis Park then knocking Ireland out of the World Cup. Foster also had the advantage of 8 years in the environment/test rugby etc compared to Razor coming in fresh.

Well it was a shit belief and the first warning signs NZ rugby had a Ardie Savea problem. They are full on flashing lights now.

Why not Foster was he not the head coach and ultimately responsible? Savea lead a group to directly intervene and saved his job.

@Victor-Meldrew said in All Blacks 2026:

@tubbyj said in All Blacks 2026:

@Victor-Meldrew said in All Blacks 2026:

@tubbyj said in All Blacks 2026:

@Victor-Meldrew said in All Blacks 2026:

@tubbyj said in All Blacks 2026:

No I am saying that Ardie should have been just as damning of Foster not saying "hes my coach and I have his back" if he was consistent and not one of the single biggest problems in the team culture himself.

??

Maybe because Ardie wasn't ignored by the Head Coach when he had problems/concerns

Are you saying the All Blacks should not be about test results but making Ardie Savea feel listened to and important?

I'm saying a really shit coach treats his players like shit and creates a toxic culture where players simply give up trying - which is what we've seen this year.

Are you saying there are no example of coaches treating players like shit and keeping the culture on edge that have not produced wildly successful results?

I await your list of uber-successful AB teams with toxic cultures

Pretty much every All Black side prior to Graham Henry.

@KiwiMurph said in All Blacks 2026:

@tubbyj said in All Blacks 2026:

@Victor-Meldrew said in All Blacks 2026:

@tubbyj said in All Blacks 2026:

@Victor-Meldrew said in All Blacks 2026:

@tubbyj said in All Blacks 2026:

No I am saying that Ardie should have been just as damning of Foster not saying "hes my coach and I have his back" if he was consistent and not one of the single biggest problems in the team culture himself.

??

Maybe because Ardie wasn't ignored by the Head Coach when he had problems/concerns

Are you saying the All Blacks should not be about test results but making Ardie Savea feel listened to and important?

I'm saying a really shit coach treats his players like shit and creates a toxic culture where players simply give up trying - which is what we've seen this year.

Are you saying there are no example of coaches treating players like shit and keeping the culture on edge that have not produced wildly successful results?

If Razor had produced wildly successful results he would still be in a job

Where did I disagree with that? I am asking why Ardie Savea didn't want Ian Foster fired for producing equally dire results.

@Bones said in All Blacks 2026:

@tubbyj said in All Blacks 2026:

meltdown

Meltdown? You're on one fella.

What else do you call your captain getting red carded in the RWC final and playing most of the match with 14 players? Tactically brilliant strategy. The fact that high tackles and cards were a constant of Fosters term as coach means it was not an out of the blue moment of bad luck either

@Victor-Meldrew said in All Blacks 2026:

@tubbyj said in All Blacks 2026:

@Victor-Meldrew said in All Blacks 2026:

@tubbyj said in All Blacks 2026:

No I am saying that Ardie should have been just as damning of Foster not saying "hes my coach and I have his back" if he was consistent and not one of the single biggest problems in the team culture himself.

??

Maybe because Ardie wasn't ignored by the Head Coach when he had problems/concerns

Are you saying the All Blacks should not be about test results but making Ardie Savea feel listened to and important?

I'm saying a really shit coach treats his players like shit and creates a toxic culture where players simply give up trying - which is what we've seen this year.

Are you saying there are no example of coaches treating players like shit and keeping the culture on edge that have not produced wildly successful results?

@booboo said in All Blacks 2026:

@tubbyj said in All Blacks 2026:

@Victor-Meldrew said in All Blacks 2026:

@tubbyj said in All Blacks 2026:

No I am saying that Ardie should have been just as damning of Foster not saying "hes my coach and I have his back" if he was consistent and not one of the single biggest problems in the team culture himself.

??

Maybe because Ardie wasn't ignored by the Head Coach when he had problems/concerns

Are you saying the All Blacks should not be about test results but making Ardie Savea feel listened to and important?

Why the focus exclusively on Savea?

because he is a better leader than he is given credit for on here. Like it or not he is the most influential player in the team.

@Victor-Meldrew said in All Blacks 2026:

@tubbyj said in All Blacks 2026:

What difference does team Culture make if the results are the same? It is a professional sport now now a amateur leisure time pursuit.

Because you get better results with a great team culture than you do with a toxic culture.

Can you really imagine Robertson's AB's losing a RWC by one point with 14 players?

We will never know now but Foster did not win the RWC and the final meltdown due to poor discipline was quite predictable given discipline was a massive problem over his entire term as coach.

@Victor-Meldrew said in All Blacks 2026:

@tubbyj said in All Blacks 2026:

No I am saying that Ardie should have been just as damning of Foster not saying "hes my coach and I have his back" if he was consistent and not one of the single biggest problems in the team culture himself.

??

Maybe because Ardie wasn't ignored by the Head Coach when he had problems/concerns

Are you saying the All Blacks should not be about test results but making Ardie Savea feel listened to and important?

What difference does team culture make if the results are the same? It is a professional sport now not a amateur leisure time pursuit.

No I am saying that Ardie should have been just as damning of Foster not saying "hes my coach and I have his back" if he was consistent and not one of the single biggest problems in the team culture himself.

@Victor-Meldrew said in All Blacks 2026:

@tubbyj said in All Blacks 2026:

Why wasn't he concerned in 2022 when Foster was dragging the team down to this level?

He was. Difference is Foster listened to his players and engaged with them. BB has spoken openly about it.

Once again what difference did that make? We got thrashed at Twickenham by the Boks, lost to Argentina at home, lost our first RWC pool game and I don't see the WC in our trophy cabinet.

Which is why you don't listen to the players on who should be coach. Fair enough fire Robertson on the results but not Ardie Saveas feels

What did that fix? We got thrashed at Twickenham, lost to Argentina at home, lost our first RWC pool game and I don't see the WC in our trophy cabinet.

Why wasn't he concerned in 2022 when Foster was dragging the team down to this level?

Question has to be asked why the same bunch of crying bitches wanted to save Ian Foster if they 'only cared about the performances' and were not selfish. If the were consistent they would have wanted both fired.

@taniwharugby said in All Blacks 2026:

@george33 said in All Blacks 2026:

NZR have approached a former AB coach to return and work as a mentor with Razor

Fozzie.

John Mitchell

Yes has overtones of what Carl Hayman and Anton Oliver did to Laurie Mains and ultimately the whole Highlanders franchise.

Sad thing is the joke possibility that we could end up with Robertson and Hansen sacked and Jason Ryan kept on with Ardie Savea and Beauden Barrett appointed as his interim assistant coaches is actually a possibility.

Did Ardie want to play 8 and they told him him was playing 7?