Rugby: All Blacks coach Ian Foster on cut wages, possible fixtures and the north-south process

All Blacks head coach Ian Foster has announced that he and his management team have cut wages further as New Zealand rugby continues to suffer from the effects of the Covid 19 crisis.

Foster, who had cut his wages in March, told Martin Devlin on Newstalk ZB that he and his colleagues from All Blacks had scored another goal while waiting for the All Blacks to return to the field.

“We made a first cut when it hit the fan for the first time, and since then I’ve made another cut – everyone in my management team did that. We hurt like everyone else,” said Foster.

The All Blacks are not expected to be on the field until at least October, with preliminary plans to face the Wallabies in a four-game Bledisloe Cup series, and although Super Rugby Aotearoa has increased NZR’s box office, the organization still has to say goodbye 25 percent of the workforce.

This has left many options for collecting revenue on the table, including a cross-code clash against the kangaroos, with Foster pointing out that it will be difficult to play opponents like the Springboks until domestic rugby is played in South Africa can and players can build fitness.

As a result, one possible option could be to take over the Pacific Island Nations. something that Foster confirmed as a possibility, albeit one that still has hurdles to overcome.

“We spoke to Fiji in particular. One of their problems is that many of their top players are still tied up in European clubs and because the European club window is currently undecided they won’t be fired.” Play international matches until the clubs really understand what their windows are. It’s about being fair to the Pacific Islanders and enabling them to find out what they can bring to their players – but we’re definitely keen to line them up and play. “”

Another unique duel on the game list is the North-South test, where players are qualified for either the North or South Island, depending on the province for which they made their first-class debut.

The judgment turned out to be controversial. Northlands Jack Goodhue and Taranakis Scott and Jordie Barrett instead played for the South Island after making their provincial debut for Canterbury, while Christchurchs Anton Lienert-Brown and Invercargills Damian McKenzie will play for the North Island. Both first played for Waikato.

However, Foster explained the reasons for using the provincial secondary criteria as opposed to where the player attended high school.

“One of the problems with high schools is that you had a real pattern in the past 10 years when people were living in a smaller school, especially in country schools, and then suddenly – through scholarships or whatever – they were drawn to larger schools confuses it and really tends to a very heavy team focused on the North Island.

“The rugby landscape is so different from the past, so we decided to say that the first province is the first step into the professional era – that rewards it and is probably closer to what it used to be.” years and years ago. “