The All Blacks' empire continues to crumble, as they shipped another heavy defeat with a 26-10 loss to South Africa in the Rugby Championship.
Aggressive line speed and success at set-piece were all it took for the Springboks to comfortably out play New Zealand, who barely threatened the Bokke line except for a Shannon Frizell try late on, when the home side were down to 14 men.
The All Blacks continued carried on their form from their home tests against Ireland as they executed a game plan of disorganisation and countless errors.
Twitter was again a cess-pool for the masses to vent their unrest again All Black head coach Ian Foster, who, at this stage, is surely unlikely to be holding this position by the new year.
While nothing could have kept the ruthless New Zealand rugby population at bay, Foster riled them up further by praising the disjointed and toothless performance.
In many ways that was probably our best performance of the year."
I think we really did well at the lineouts. We defended their drives, we didn't get any calls in that first half but our defence was really strong. It was a game dominated by defence and dominated by a couple of high ball errors."
I'm really proud of the effort. They played a really clinical game. We just couldn't quite make the opportunities stick."
All Black Fans Call Out Foster On Twitter
"In many ways that was probably our best performance of the year"
An actual sentence just uttered by Ian Foster#RSAvNZL— TAB Sport (@TAB_Sport) August 6, 2022
Numbers don't look great for Ian Foster.#AllBlacks #RSAvNZL #Foster pic.twitter.com/qsA56xvFPY
— Rugby Stats Nerd (@RugbyStatsNerd) August 6, 2022
Ian Foster
25 games
16 wins
1 draw
8 losses
Win% 64
He should be fired ASAP, enough is enough!— Jesse Johnson-King (@Ki1Jesse) August 6, 2022
READ MORE: Dejected New Zealand Media Reaction After Ireland Break The All Blacks
READ MORE: Ian Foster Explains Joe Schmidt's Role With All Blacks Moving Forward
New Zealand Press React To All Blacks Loss
The New Zealand press were also quick to engage in the pile-on of Foster, with Liam Napier of the New Zealand Herald criticising the lack of pretty much everything in what was a defining game for Foster and this team.
In their defining hour, their day of reckoning, the All Blacks barely fired a shot.
It wasn't that the All Blacks were intimidated. It wasn't that they were caught off guard, either. The Boks stuck to their unimaginative kick-heavy, forward-dominated blueprint and executed it to perfection. The All Blacks knew it was coming – and still had few answers.
A fifth defeat from their last sixth tests leaves All Blacks head coach Ian Foster one match – at Ellis Park next week - to save his job.
If it wasn't clear before it is glaringly obvious now – this is an All Blacks group bereft of confidence and direction. In these circumstances a sudden revival at the mecca of South African rugby next week seems but a fanciful dream.
The body of evidence in the wake of last month's home series defeat to Ireland weighs heavily on Foster's embattled tenure that appears increasingly untenable."
In terms of potential replacements for Foster, Scott Robertson is the popular choice given his astounding success with the Crusaders. Napier's colleague Gregor Paul suggested as such, writing that the "broken All Blacks need to send SOS to Scott Robertson."
Other options would be Joe Schmidt or Warren Gatland, two coaches who may be more suited to a short-term plan with the World Cup 2023 in mind. Both men are notoriously tough and would be perfect candidates to implement the high-standards which the All Blacks ethos is lacking, in time for next year's big stage in France.
SEE ALSO: The Positive Reaction To Hooper Decision To Withdraw From Aus Squad
