Former All Black Steve Devine has predicted Ian Foster will no longer be head coach by “6:30pm tonight.”
The national side lost their first series to Ireland in history on Saturday evening to cap off a disappointing year and a half of international rugby.
Under Foster’s leadership, the All Blacks have achieved just a 66.7 per cent win rate, which as the worst in the side’s professional history, has prompted many to call for his resignation.
Devine has weighed in on the situation and believes that if Foster wants to do what’s “best for the team” he should step down before August’s Rugby Championship.
“We have heard from the All Blacks for the last 30 years … it’s not about an individual, it’s about the player and it’s about what’s best for the team,” Devine said on SENZ’s The Rugby Run.
“So right now, what is best for the team … and if Ian Foster asks himself that question, I can’t see him being coach by 6:30pm tonight.
“What’s best for the team? That’s the question that needs to be asked right now.”
Devine has cited a lack of adaptability and enterprise as the main reasoning behind his call for Foster to resign, as the side has continued to make the same mistakes week after week.
With the Rugby World Cup just around the corner in 2023, the former national player believes it is best for the All Blacks to embark on a new direction without him at the helm.
“It’s the same mistakes every week,” Devine continued.
“We’re not winning the kicking battle, we’re not attacking … we’re big strong rugby players that play Super Rugby, who like to run and throw the ball around yet we turn up in an All Blacks jumper and we’re standing flat on attack.
“We’re not carrying and we’re looking around … it’s just not gelling.
“To me, I’ve had coaches that when it’s been good, everything is easy and everything goes well and when we’ve had coaches that haven’t been good, then that’s what we get.
“From where I’m looking, that’s what I’m seeing. It’s just not gelling at all.”
Following the All Blacks’ failure to front the media on Sunday morning, it seems decisions may be made around Foster’s future sooner rather than later.