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ESPN staff
Ian Foster and Sam Cane have been retained as All Blacks coach and captain respectively.
The duo will now come under immense pressure to right the team’s poor recent run of results in the upcoming Rugby Championship, where the All Blacks begin their campaign away to the Springboks in South Africa.
“I am strong. I am resilient,” Foster told reporters in Auckland.
“I believe I have a great feel and relationship with my players. I’m strategic and I’m also accountable. I am really excited to … show you what this team is made of.”
Foster has however brought in Ethan de Groot and Shannon Frizell into his 36-man squad, while Tyrel Lomax, Braydon Ennor and Josh Dickson will travel to the Republic as replacement players for the injured Angua Ta’avao, Jack Goodhue and Brodie Retallick.
Pita-Gus Sowakula and Karl Tu’inukuafe have been dropped.
The All Blacks were last weekend beaten by Ireland in Wellington, meaning the tourists claimed an history 2-1 series triumph.
Calls for Foster to be sacked have flowed across New Zealand since, but he has survived an New Zealand Rugby [NZR] review to carry on for the immediate future.
Cane was also coming under mounting pressure to retain his role as skipper with many believing he is keeping Ardie Savea out of his best position at No. 7 and that the wider balance of the All Blacks’ back-row was being distorted.
“I have faith in Sam Cane,” Foster said. “We all know we have a high accountability when you wear an All Blacks jersey and we need to do that better.”
One media organisation on Thursday reported that Cane had been dumped, but that proved to be incorrect.
“The past fortnight has been a challenging time for us and of course our fans,” NZR boss Mark Robinson said.
“There have been some thorough conversations this week, as there always are around our performance environments, and these will continue.
“It’s exciting to be heading back to South Africa for the first time in several years – we have two big games ahead of us there and our focus now is to support the team to improve performance and be successful.”