Bledisloe Cup Rugby: All Blacks coach Ian Foster keeps faith in Rieko Ioane with wing start against the Wallabies

Rieko Ioane, the belligerent defender whose mistake may have cost the All Blacks a victory in the first round of the Bledisloe Cup, has earned the faith of coach Ian Foster and will go out on the wing in their fourth game against the Wallabies.

Ioane started at center in Wellington last month, where he was called off an attempt after smashing the base of his trademark one-handed shot.

The 23-year-old has received criticism for his supposedly arrogant display, but he remains a favorite of Foster’s selectors and the All Blacks, even scoring a try last weekend using the same base style.

Ioane, an active user of social media, seems to have ignored her mistake and took to Instagram after the All Blacks’ beating against the Wallabies in Sydney to send a subtle message to her critics, writing ‘best regards’ alongside with a photo of himself. write down the attempt.

Now Ioane has a chance to start on the left wing Saturday night, a position in which he made a name for himself for the All Blacks.

Foster, who declined to blame Ioane for his mistake in the first test, said he was impressed with what he has seen of Ioane this season, particularly his performance coming off the bench on wing last Saturday upon his return from a hamstring injury.

“He’s looking fast again,” Foster said. “He’s strong after his little hamstring pinch. It kept him out of the second test, but when he came in through the wing in the third test, he went down the right wing, he looked fast and strong and I love seeing him. like this. It’s another chance for him to do that. “

The All Blacks coach said he still likes Ioane in center, but wanted to reward Anton Lienert-Brown’s form with the number 13 jersey.

“We know he is a quality winger and we know he is a quality center. And at some point he will have another chance there. It’s not like we passed him in center, but we really feel that ALB has come in and played so well that with some of the other changes on the baseline, I really wanted to keep ALB there because he’s probably been our fit midfielder right now. “

“We stay reasonably open with him (Ioane) about midfield and wing, but the key is that he is good enough to play both,” Foster added.

Ioane won’t be the only player to have a chance to prove himself, with four players set to make their test debut, including Rieko’s brother Akira, who will start at number 6. Meanwhile, winger Sevu Reece and Midfielder Ngani Laumape also return to the starting team. after long periods away from the team.

Foster said he believes those new and returning players will easily sit on the side and hopes they will continue the hard work they have shown thus far.

“They bring energy only because of their attitude when they are chosen and only because of the enthusiasm they provide. The key is not to go and try to feel like you have to be Superman.

“If you look at some of the names – Akira, Ngani come back, Sevu has his first outing for a while, and then you have names like Asafo [Aumua], Cullen [Grace] and the will [Jordan] – They really have to do what they have done to get there.

“They have learned a lot over the last three or four weeks about how we operate and I guess all we ask of them is to trust that and to trust in their own abilities and then use their own intuition that they have developed over a number of years to just back off in the heat of the moment.

“That’s all we ask. Then we work on bits and pieces after that. There are always little mistakes that happen with every player, particularly new ones. But it’s exciting to see them come in and get that opportunity and we have a lot of faith in that whole group. “.