IT SOUNDED LIKE a straightforward question from one of the Kiwis journalists to All Blacks attack coach Ian Foster.
“How have Andy Farrell’s defences caused you problems in recent years?”
Clearly, Farrell has found a decent formula for taking on the All Blacks, with the Ireland defence coach counting four wins over the Kiwis on his coaching CV – one with England, one with the Lions, and two with Ireland.
Sitting in the All Blacks’ luxurious hotel in Tokyo, however, Foster didn’t seem to like the line of inquiry.
“I don’t know, you’d have to ask Andy that,” replied the man known as ‘Fozzy’.
Perhaps the Kiwi attack coach wasn’t keen to discuss those occasions on which the New Zealand attack hasn’t been able to reach its lethal best. The All Blacks scored more than 20 points on three of the four occasions that Farrell was involved in beating them, but they certainly felt pressure in the face of major linespeed.
Foster didn’t seem too eager to discuss much at all, in truth, with a question about Bundee Aki’s three-game ban failing to evoke much of a response.
“I haven’t really got a reaction to it as I’m pretty much focused on what we do, but it’s pretty consistent with what we’ve seen at this tournament,” said Foster.
Ireland’s box kicks?
“Catch them.”
Joe Schmidt’s clever power plays?
“I don’t mean to be rude but you’re asking me to guess what another coach is thinking.”
To be fair to Foster, he is probably simply keen for Saturday to roll around and for the talking to be done on the pitch.
Steve Hansen delivered a few cracking answers in his press conference on Monday, Foster did at least warm up a little as the media briefing at the Royal Park Hotel in the Shidome area of Tokyo rolled on.
Foster eventually cracked a joke and a smile as the questions kept coming, including one about what Ireland had done well to beat the All Blacks in Dublin last November.
“I can’t remember it,” said Foster with a grin before finally delivering some thoughts on this weekend’s World Cup quarter-final between the sides.
“We just got beat by a good Irish team. That was a different time, a different place, is it relevant? Perhaps they would have learned some stuff but we learned some stuff.
“We actually don’t get too stuck in the past, it’s more about the challenge that’s in front of us. This is a World Cup knock-out game and it’s actually about what happens this week, not what happened in the last two years.
“How you use the past is interesting, you gather information from last wins and losses but, really, it’s about not going in with too many assumptions and seeing what turns up and acting accordingly.
“They’re a quality team, we know that. They’re very experienced but so are we. We’ve just got to go and play off the cards we’ve been dealt this week.
“We’ve had a week off and the guys are really excited. We’ve got 31 fit players. The focus on the detail is huge, that’s how we go about it. It’s a big game but we play a lot of big games in this sport.”
So what of the here and now? How is this version of Joe Schmidt’s Ireland tracking? Are they too reliant on Johnny Sexton?
“A lot has been made of Ireland’s performance against Japan and I think if you flip that over you’ve probably got to pat Japan on the back for that game,” said Foster.
“I thought they played really, really well. Japan beat Scotland by seven and that’s a great win but Ireland were pretty ruthless against Scotland and really put them away when they needed to and looked good against Samoa with 14 men. I’m pretty sure they’ll be primed and ready.
“Every team has got their strengths and weaknesses. We know Sexton is important to their team and we know that a lot of the ball does go through his hands. That’s clear and obvious, everyone knows that.
“They’re a smart rugby team and they’ve proven that. People can say what they like about their attacking style and defensive style but they’re efficient and they do it well.
“That’s what makes us really exciting for us because we’re playing a team that knows how to play and what greater challenge could you have?”
