All Blacks boss Ian Foster on Lions Test: “It put me to sleep”

Amidst preparations for their Bledisloe tie with the Wallabies, All Blacks boss Ian Foster was asked what he had made of the second Test of the series between the Springboks and the British & Irish Lions. The Kiwi replied: “I watched it between 10pm and 1am last night, it put me to sleep.”

Related: South Africa set up Lions series decider

There has been a lot of criticism of the style of rugby played in the Test series in South Africa. Explaining further, Foster explained: “The Lions series, the one we had here, the one over there, it’s become very tight, almost risk-free type of series, aren’t they? Teams are almost afraid to play, they are just relying on a low-risk strategy.

“So we are seeing two teams who desperately want to win a big series playing low-risk, highly-effective rugby. Both of them are good at the close contact stuff, the close quarter fighting, the kick and chase, and the pressure game. Two teams playing a similar style, it’s a bit of a slugfest.”

The Kiwi coach was talking to the media ahead of the upcoming Test match with Australia. However, he was pressed again about this recent phenomenon in Test rugby.

South Africa’s scrum-half Faf de Klerk kicks (Getty Images)

He continued: “That’s Test match rugby where stakes are high, it’s the whole risk versus reward, isn’t it?

“You’ve got two teams over there, who want to get up, their line speed is really strong. It’s all about stopping.

“We’ve been criticised in the past for not being able to play around and through line speed, but what you are seeing is two teams that don’t like playing against line speed either.

“So what do they do? They kick. That’s the answer if you are not willing to play a slightly more risky game. Everyone will choose a different way.”

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