Ian Foster is a New Zealand

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

coach and former player. He is the current head coach of the New Zealand national team, the All Blacks. He was previously an assistant coach of the All Blacks from 2012 to 2015, a period in which the team won the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

Playing career

During Foster's playing career he made 148 appearances for

Waikato Waikato () is a local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsul ...

, a union record. He also played 28 games for the Chiefs.Ian Foster named All Blacks assistant coach
''Stuff.co.nz,'' 23 December 2011 Foster also played for the NZRFU President’s XV in 1995.

Coaching career

Waikato

Foster was the Head Coach of

for 2002 and 2003. In 2002, Waikato finished first after the round robin stage with eight wins from nine games, but ultimately lost the final to

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

28-40. In the 2003 season Waikato were second behind Otago after the round robin standings with six wins from nine games. They then lost their home semi-final 29-30 to

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

. Overall, Foster's coaching record with Waikato was 15 wins from 21 games.

Chiefs

In 2004, Foster took over as head coach of the Waikato-based Super Rugby team the Chiefs, with the following results: * In the

2004 Super 12 season The 2004 Super 12 season was the ninth season of the Super 12, contested by teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The season ran from February to May 2004, with each team playing all the others once. At the end of the regular season ...

, 7 wins from 11 games with 274 points for and 251 against. Placed 4th on the table. The Chiefs lost their semifinal 17-32 to the

Brumbies The ACT Brumbies (known from 2005–2022 as simply the Brumbies) is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT), The team competes in Super Rugby and named for the brumby, feral horses whi ...

, the eventual champions, at

Canberra Stadium Canberra Stadium (GIO Stadium for commercial reasons) is a facility primarily used for rugby league and rugby union games, located adjacent to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, the capital of Australia. It is the largest sports ven ...

. * 2005, 5 wins and a draw from 11 games with 272 points for and 250 against. Placed 6th. * 2006, 7 wins and a draw from 13 games with 325 points for and 298 against. Placed 7th. * 2007, 7 wins and a draw from 13 games with 373 points for and 321 against. Placed 7th. *

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, 7 wins from 13 games with 348 points for and 349 against. Placed 7th. * 2009, 9 wins from 13 games with 338 points for and 236 against. Placed 2nd. The Chiefs beat the

Hurricanes A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

14-10 in a home semi-final and then lost 17-61 to the Bulls in the final at Loftus Versfeld Stadium,

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foot ...

. * 2010, 4 wins and a draw from 13 games with 340 points for and 418 against. Placed 10th. * 2011, 6 wins and a draw from 18 games with 332 points for and 348 against. Placed 5th in the New Zealand conference and 10th overall. Under Foster's coaching, the Chiefs made the Super Rugby finals in 2004 and the final in 2009 and had a 50% win ratio.

All Blacks

In 2011, Foster became an assistant coach and selector for the All Blacks under newly-appointed head coach Steve Hansen, a position which he held until after the

2019 Rugby World Cup The 2019 Rugby World Cup was the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 2 November in 12 venues all across the country. The opening match ...

. During his time as assistant coach, the All Blacks won 93 of 108 tests (losing in just ten), and won the 2015 Rugby World Cup. In December 2019, Foster was named the new head coach of the All Blacks, replacing Hansen, alongside assistants

John Plumtree John Plumtree is a professional rugby union coach and former first class provincial rugby player. He was previously the head coach for the Hurricanes and the , which competes in the Super Rugby and Currie Cup competitions. As a player Plumtree ...

, Greg Feek, and Scott McLeod. He also announced

Sam Cane Samuel Jordan Cane (born 13 January 1992) is a New Zealand rugby union rugby player. His regular playing position is as a loose forward. He currently plays for Chiefs and Bay of Plenty. Cane made his international debut for New Zealand in 20 ...

as the new All Blacks captain. In November 2020,

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

beat the All Blacks for the first time. In 2022, Foster came under increasing pressure after the All Blacks were defeated in a test series for the first time by

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, as well as a loss to South Africa. Prior to leaving for South Africa for the Mbombela test, Foster's assistants Plumtree and Brad Mooar were sacked and replaced by Jason Ryan, with Foster taking on the backs coaching role and former Ireland coach Joe Schmidt joining as an advisor. After a review, and support from many of the All Blacks squad,

New Zealand Rugby New Zealand Rugby (NZR) is the governing body of rugby union in New Zealand. It was founded in 1892 as the New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRFU), 12 years after the first provincial unions in New Zealand. In 1949 it became an affiliate to t ...

opted to back Foster until the 2023 World Cup. Two weeks later, the All Blacks lost to Argentina in Christchurch, the first time Argentina had defeated the All Blacks in New Zealand.

Coaching statistics

New Zealand

International matches as head coach

Note: World Rankings Column shows the World Ranking New Zealand was placed at on the following Monday after each of their matches

Record by country

Honours

Bledisloe Cup The Bledisloe Cup is an annual rugby union competition originally staged between the national teams of Australia's Wallabies and New Zealand's All Blacks that has been contested since the 1930s. The frequency that the competition is held has va ...

** Winners: 2020, 2021, 2022 * Freedom Cup ** Winners: 2021, 2022 * The Rugby Championship ** Winners:

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

References

External links

Ian Foster
at the International Rugby Academy 1965 births Living people Chiefs (rugby union) players New Zealand national rugby union team coaches New Zealand rugby union coaches New Zealand rugby union players People educated at Taieri College People from Putāruru Rugby union players from Waikato Waikato rugby union players People educated at Forest View High School, Tokoroa {{NewZealand-rugbyunion-bio-1960s-stub