After the Rugby World Cup held in Japan, attention was focused on the selection of a new head coach to succeed Steve Hansen, who had been involved with the All Blacks for many years and retired after three Rugby World Cups. It was decided that Ian Foster, who had served as assistant coach for the All Blacks since 2012, would take on the role of head coach.
→ IAN FOSTER APPOINTED ALL BLACKS HEAD COACH
Who is the new head coach, Ian Foster?
Ian Foster is 54 years old and from Hamilton, New Zealand. During his active career, he played for Waikato and Chiefs. After retiring, he coached for those teams and from 2012 he served as assistant coach for the All Blacks under Steve Hansen for eight years.
Steve Hansen also served as assistant coach under Sir Graham Henry, who was head coach from 2004 to 2011, and his career path from assistant coach to head coach seemed to assume that he would pursue a coaching career with the All Blacks.
For this reason, there were many voices saying that it was time to breathe new life into the All Blacks, and there were rumors that Japan's head coach, Jamie Joseph, was also a candidate. In the end, after a one-on-one battle with Scott Robertson, the coach of New Zealand's strongest team, the Crusaders, Foster was selected.
There have been many critical voices in New Zealand about Foster's appointment as head coach, but Hansen reflected on his own experience, saying, "It was the same when I took over," and commented in support of Foster, saying, "Fossie (Foster's nickname) is a great coach. We should show more respect for his appointment."
Eddie Jones, who served as Japan's head coach and led England to the final in this year's World Cup, defeating the All Blacks, also recommended Foster, saying, "Foster was a great assistant coach."
By the way, both Jamie Joseph and Tony Brown, who served as assistant coach under Jamie, are from New Zealand and have stated that they want to coach the All Blacks in the future, so it will be interesting to see where the coaches will go after the next World Cup in France .
Home test match schedule for 2020 confirmed
📰 NEWS | The All Blacks 2020 Home Test schedule has just been announced!
— All Blacks (@AllBlacks) December 2, 2019
READ MORE ➡️ https://t.co/ePX26qs1W6 pic.twitter.com/ik3uZjyjf2
The new All Blacks, under Ian Foster, will kick off their Steinlager Series campaign against Wales at Eden Park in Auckland on 4 July 2020.
The Steinlager Series is an international tournament held annually in which top teams from the Northern Hemisphere travel to New Zealand.
After Eden Park, the match will take place at Sky Stadium in Wellington, New Zealand's capital, on July 11th.
The third race of the Steinlager Series will be against Scotland, this time in Dunedin.
After the Stein Lager Series, the Investec Rugby Championship will be held! The matches are scheduled to be against Australia in Wellington on August 15th, against Argentina in Hamilton on August 29th, and against South Africa at Eden Park in Auckland.
Former All Blacks coach joins Toyota Verblitz!
Another good news for Japanese rugby fans.
Former All Blacks head coach Steve Hansen will join Toyota Verblitz as Director of Rugby!
Toyota Verblitz announced in November that Simon Cron would be the new head coach. Cron served as the forwards coach for the Australian rugby team, the Waratahs, and is a promising young coach.
Hansen will be in a position above Cron, the "Director of Rugby". According to an interview with him, he will not be a full-time coach, but rather an advisor with a consulting role. Cron, whose uncle is the All Blacks' scrum coach, also has connections with Hansen. One of Hansen's major jobs is to guide Cron to become a great coach.
Incidentally, Hansen's joining Verblitz was officially announced in December, but there had been rumors for some time, and in New Zealand there was already an article on April 20, 2019 stating that Hansen would be going to Toyota with Cron after the Rugby World Cup.
→ All Blacks coach Steve Hansen to take Simon Cron with him to Toyota Verblitz
Toyota Verblitz has also welcomed Kieran Read , captain of the All Blacks who retired after the Rugby World Cup!
Rugby has become popular thanks to the World Cup. I hope the Japan Rugby Top League will also become popular!
