Ireland v South Africa was billed as the headline game of the Rugby World Cup pool stages, and a tense affair last weekend saw the Irish rugby side claim a dramatic 13-8 victory.
Rugby fans have roundly agreed that last Saturday's game was a contest worthy of its billing, as the two sides played out a gripping battle in the most thrilling game of the pool stages thus far.
One man who does not subscribe to that opinion, however, is All Blacks head coach Ian Foster.
Foster saw his side annihilate Italy 96-17 on Friday night and, after the game, threw a questionable sly dig at what he saw as an underwhelming spectacle last Saturday in the Stade de France.
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Rugby World Cup: Ireland v South Africa spectacle questioned by All Blacks head coach
After his side's demolition job on the Italians in Lyon, Ian Foster faced the media - and he appeared to be getting some early mind games in ahead of his side's likely quarter-final meeting with either Ireland or South Africa.
Smart from Foster. Already planting seeds ahead of the 1/4s. 🥶 pic.twitter.com/HVkyQyulMr
— Andy Rowe (@AndyRoweOnline) September 30, 2023
Foster was asked if he felt his team was ready for the quarter-finals - and made a remark on last week's game between Ireland and South Africa which suggested he had questions about the quality of rugby on show:
You look at the South African and Ireland game, it was a very different game of rugby.
The ball-in-play was only 27 minutes in the whole game. It was a very stop-start game, very physical, very combative.
You saw a different spectacle tonight. Probably at one stage, the world's got to decide what kind of game they'd rather watch.
There is no doubt that Saturday's epic in the Stade de France was a physical game, defined by the immense work of both packs, but it was nonetheless gripping in a manner few games at this or any recent Rugby World Cup have managed to be.
23 September 2023; Josh van der Flier of Ireland is tackled by Damian de Allende of South Africa during the 2023 Rugby World Cup Pool B match between South Africa and Ireland at Stade de France in Paris, France. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
Foster's comments were, however, misguided in an entirely different way.
The New Zealand coach appeared to doubt both Ireland and South Africa's respective abilities to play in a game with more ball-in-play time. Ireland's Six Nations victory over France earlier this year would certainly dispel judgement, with the ball in play for an astounding 46 minutes and 10 seconds, highlighting the quality of both teams with the ball in hand.
And, on a separate note, the ball-in-play time during the All Blacks' 79 point victory over Italy on Friday was in fact only two minutes higher than that between Ireland and the Springboks.
That point was driven home on Twitter by none other than South African director of rugby Rassie Erasmus, who took issue with the erroneous suggestion from Foster's press conference.
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Ian always a straight shooter and say it as it is! Have respect for him since he coached the Chiefs!! But I think 2 min more ball in play and a epic battle between Ireland and Boks is the game I would rather watch !! ( while saying that your boys were crisp and clinical 🤝) https://t.co/qeo7M4y5nv pic.twitter.com/nB2wzAWSZC
— Rassie Erasmus (@RassieRugby) September 30, 2023
New Zealand legend Stephen Donald gave a slightly different assessment of the Ireland v South Africa game, suggesting that the Boks had deliberately lost in order to avoid a quarter-final meeting with the All Blacks.
Regardless of their truthfulness or effectiveness, the mind games have well and truly started already - even though the last eight pairings are far from set.
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The qualification from Group B is still up in the air, with Scotland still in the mix with a final day meeting with Ireland to come - and Foster is taking nothing for granted:
I have got no preference about who we play. Those questions early in the pool don't mean a lot as there are a lot of things that can still happen. We don't spend any time thinking about what might happen. I know that's a boring answer but that's the truth.
What happens if Scotland go and play two great games and either Ireland or South Africa are not there? We'll do our job, take it one week at a time and find out who it is.
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