Tri Nations rugby: Patrick Tuipulotu says All Blacks owe coach Ian Foster a win in their rematch against Argentina

The All Blacks are hoping a redemption win against Argentina this weekend will help ease some pressure on head coach Ian Foster.

The All Blacks will face the Pumas at McDonald Jones Stadium on Saturday night, two weeks after suffering their first loss to the South Americans (and their first straight loss since 2011) in a 25-15 capitulation at Bankwest Stadium.

The loss was the second in Foster’s five games in charge and has prompted some to call for him to be fired.

Speaking to the media Monday, Lock Patrick Tuipulotu said the All Blacks owed a win to Foster as much as they owed themselves.

“The coach is always the face of the squad, he will always be on the firing line and I think that for us if we lose two in a row [to Argentina] the coach is always going to be to blame, “he said.

“It is up to us to get a result and perform well, so that when he is in the line of fire, it is a good thing from a good victory.”

Meanwhile, veteran Sam Whitelock has offered some advice to captain Sam Cane following public reaction to comments he made about All Blacks fans.

Cane faced scrutiny for his comments last week that some fans criticizing the team don’t know much about rugby in an interview with Sky Sport. Decomposition, describing the brutal nature of some of the passionate fans of the All Blacks.

“We have some amazing fans, but also some pretty brutal,” he said. “With that, you just have to remind yourself ‘hey, they might like to think they know a lot about the game of rugby, actually, they don’t really know it.’ They may know the game by what they see in the 80 minutes But they don’t see what’s going on behind the scenes. “

Whitelock said that’s why he decided not to personally delve into what was in the media.

“I had a really good learning early in my career playing in the 2011 World Cup … our media manager stepped up to the front of the team and said ‘look, there’s going to be a lot of good and bad reviews in the media as well. that if you don’t want to read it or hear what people are saying, just don’t read it. ‘For my part, I read and watch very little about the media and social networks, “he said.

“When I was a younger player I used to read all of that and he used to make me go up and down … it’s people’s choices and people can have their opinions, that’s what makes New Zealand so passionate about rugby and sports in general, but for me, I try not to read it. “