Foster won't play blame game
12/17/2024 12:59 AM
Former All Blacks coach Ian Foster has responded to Steve Hansen’s claim that the All Blacks were “robbed” in the 2023 World Cup final against the Springboks.
All Blacks captain Sam Cane’s yellow card in the 29th minute of the Paris decider for a “dangerous tackle” was upgraded to red after a bunker review, while a second-half try to scrumhalf Aaron Smith was ruled out after the TMO spotted a knock-on in the build-up.
The 14-man All Blacks still had a chance to win it, though, but centre Jordie Barrett missed a late penalty goal and the Boks hung on for a 12-11 victory.
"This is a team that should have won the World Cup, they were robbed of the World Cup as far as I'm concerned with some poor decisions that were out of their control which cost them a World Cup," Hansen, who coached the All Blacks to 2015 World Cup glory, told DSPN’s Martin Devlin last week.
"This is a team that should have won the World Cup, they were robbed of the World Cup as far as I'm concerned with some poor decisions that were out of their control which cost them a World Cup."
Foster, though, refused to blame referee Wayne Barnes and the match officials when appearing on the same podcast.
"I go back to it with a lot of pride with where the team got to and to get to that final on the big stage and get so close I was actually so proud with that but also incredibly disappointed that we didn't cross the line," he said.
"I like to focus more on things that we could control, things that maybe we could have done a little bit better and so I think you kid yourself that we were robbed you end up becoming a little bit cynical.
"You end up blaming other people for it so for me, we did what we had to do but we weren't quite good enough to get the result," Foster added.
"And that's the game and that's probably what World Cup finals are about – they're about tension and drama and you'd have to say I delivered that pretty well."
Photo: Franck Fife/AFP
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