All Blacks coach Ian Foster denied Saturday he was feeling extra pressure after New Zealand were shocked by Argentina in the Tri Nations, leaving him with just two wins from five since taking over.
The three-time world champions were widely expected to coast against a team they had not lost to once in their 29 previous encounters, but instead were embarrassed 25-15 in Sydney.
History made in Sydney
It was their first back-to-back defeats since 2011 after slumping 24-22 against the Wallabies last week.
“This role always comes with pressure and what I feel now is massive disappointment that I haven’t achieved what I wanted to achieve in the last two games,” Foster said.
“We have a lot of good people in this group and we have shown we can perform at a high level and we need to go back and show we can do it again.”
Ian Foster, All Blacks coach
All Blacks coach under fire
He took over from Steve Hansen following last year’s World Cup in Japan but his reign so far has been littered with inconsistency.
After a 16-16 draw against Australia in his opening game, he oversaw two wins against the Wallabies before the last two losses.
Foster admitted Argentina had more passion and were the better team, despite playing their first Test since the World Cup and struggling through preparations disrupted by the coronavirus.
“We’re all hurting in there. It’s been a massively difficult year for everyone but when it comes to the game we prepared well, but were met by a team that had too much passion for us and we have got to sort that out,” he said.
“There’s no excuses. We had two teams very similar but with contrasting build-ups… but it’s an All Blacks jersey and we want to be at our best every time, but there were two contrasting intensity levels between the teams today.”
Ian Foster, All Blacks coach
The last time the All Blacks lost twice on the trot was in 2011, against South Africa and Australia.
Asked how he felt about overseeing the first side in nine years to chalk up back-to-back losses, Foster replied:
“You can tell by my body language I’m not excited by it.”
Ian Foster, All Blacks coach
They face Argentina again on 28 November.
© Agence France-Presse
