Ian Foster Promoted To AB’s Head Coach
The New Zealand All Blacks have announced the appointment of Ian Foster to head coach of the team, where he will be replacing Steve Hansen, who left the role at the end of the Rugby World Cup. 54-year-old Foster had served as assistant to Hansen for eight years, and was able to take the position over Crusaders coach Scott Robertson. Talking about his new role, Foster said that he feels privileged and honoured to have been given the chance to be head coach.
Former Wales and Ireland coaches, Warren Gatland and Joe Schmidt had also been hinted at taking over the role after Hansen left. Dave Rennie, who is set to leave Glasgow and take up the position of head coach with Australia next year, along with Jamie Joseph, who had committed to leading Japan to the World Cup, had also been suggested as potential replacements for the AB’s former head coach.
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New Zealand Rugby had contacted 26 coaches since Hansen left the team, but Foster and Robertson, who had been a part of the club and overseen three successive Super Rugby championships with the Crusaders, were the only two candidates that had been confirmed. New Zealand claimed victory at the both the World Cups of 2011 and 2015, but was defeated by England during the semi finals for the 2019 tournament that took place in Japan earlier this year, a loss that led to Hansen deciding to leave his role.
