OPINION: Will the Springboks end the tenure of the beleaguered Ian Foster?

Will it be the Springboks at South Africa’s most iconic stadium, Ellis Park, that put the final nail in the coffin of All Blacks coach Ian Foster and captain Sam Cane on Saturday evening?

It has been a turbulent time for New Zealand Rugby over the past two and a half years that Foster has been in charge, with them going through one of their toughest spells of the professional era.

Following in the footsteps of Steve Hansen was always going to be a daunting task, with Hansen regarded by many as one of, if not the greatest coach to have ever graced the game of rugby.

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During his seven year stint as All Blacks head coach he was in charge of 107 matches, winning 93 of them, drawing four and losing just 10 for an incredible 88.79 win percentage, while he led them to the 2015 World Cup title, which was their second in a row.

No one could have predicted how badly things have gone since he left after guiding the All Blacks to the 2019 World Cup bronze medal.

Tough platform

Admittedly Foster did not have the best platform to start from, with the Covid pandemic in 2020 throwing sport the world over into disarray, but things have not gotten any better as times have slowly returned to normal.

In total the All Blacks have played 25 matches under Foster so far, winning 16, losing eight and drawing one of them.

The most concerning aspect however, is that five of those 16 wins have come against sides that usually sit outside of the top 10 world rugby rankings, with two coming against Fiji (currently 12^th), one against Italy (14^th), one against Tonga (16^th) and one against USA (19^th).

Their current dreadful run has built up the most noise however, with them losing five of their last six games, and last three in a row, with three loses against Ireland, one against France and last weekend against the Boks.

With immense pressure on Foster as well as captain Cane, only an enormously improved performance will possibly be able to save them from the axe, but even if their performance does improve, another loss will most likely be the final nail.