The New Zealand Rugby Federation announced on Sunday an "
immediate
" takeover of the All Blacks after their new defeat against Ireland, deemed "
not acceptable
", and which complicates the future of coach Ian Foster.
“
Congratulations to the Irish team on their well deserved victory last night, but clearly the All Blacks' performance in this series was not acceptable, and we know they have given thought to this.
We all know there is an enormous amount of work to be done
,” New Zealand Rugby boss Mark Robinson said in a statement.
"
Our aim is to work with Ian and his team to fully understand, before the Rugby Championship, what we need to improve performance and what to do from now on.
We will start this work immediately
,” he added.
The All Blacks suffered Saturday night a second consecutive loss at home against Ireland (32-22).
It was the first time the New Zealanders had lost back-to-back games at home to a European side since France's title-winning tour in 1994. It was also the first time they had lost a home Test series against Ireland, which had never won in New Zealand before its success the previous Saturday in Dunedin (23-12).
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This first defeat had already weakened Ian Foster a little more, in place since 2020, but who has accumulated bad results since last year, with seven defeats in 24 games, including two against Ireland (29-20) and the France (40-25) in November 2021 who had already cast doubt.
The All Blacks had however won (42-19) the first test match against Ireland in Auckland.
The New Zealanders will play in August and September the Rugby Championship, which pits the major national teams of the southern hemisphere (Australia, Argentina, South Africa, New Zealand) each year.
They will start with two tests at world champions South Africa on August 6 and 13.