Former All Blacks head coach Ian Foster dismissed Steve Hansen’s claim that the All Blacks were “robbed” of the Rugby World Cup in 2023 against the Springboks.
Despite a spirited performance in the final last year in Paris, New Zealand lost the final by just one point to their old foes.
Hansen, who won the 2015 World Cup with the All Blacks, believes the Springboks should have lost the final.
“This is a team that should have won the World Cup, they were robbed of the World Cup as far as I’m concerned with some poor decisions that were out of their control which cost them a World Cup,” he said.
Foster says the All Blacks could have done more to beat the Springboks
Foster disagreed with Hansen, who was in charge of the All Blacks team that lost 12-11 against the Springboks.
“I go back to it with a lot of pride with where the team got to and to get to that final on the big stage and get so close I was actually so proud with that but also incredibly disappointed that we didn’t cross the line,”t told DSPN with Martin Devlin.
“I like to focus more on things that we could control, things that maybe we could have done a little bit better and so I think you kid yourself that we were robbed you end up becoming a little bit cynical,” he added.
Following defeat to the Springboks, Foster left the All Blacks to reunite with Japanese club Toyota Verblitz. He admits that in the final, New Zealand were not clinical enough.
“You end up blaming other people for it so for me, we did what we had to do but we weren’t quite good enough to get the result,” he added.
“And that’s the game and that’s probably what World Cup finals are about – they’re about tension and drama and you’d have to say I delivered that pretty well.”
The Springboks and the All Blacks will fiercely renew their rivalry next year
