Here’s a question for casual rugby fans. Who are the head coaches of the Springboks and the All Blacks? If the first half of your answer is Rassie Erasmus, don’t worry, you’re certainly not alone. However, the innovative and often confrontational former coach is now in fact South Africa’s director of rugby, having been bumped upstairs after his success at the 2019 World Cup. And don’t worry if you drew a blank on the second part of the question. The man in charge of New Zealand for Saturday’s final isn’t exactly a blockbuster figure.
The names we’re looking for are Jacques Nienaber and Ian Foster, two men who could conceivably go unnoticed in a lift. In an era of head coaches hogging headlines and providing regular soundbites in fiery press conferences, they both possess the gravitational pull of a deflated rugby ball. Maybe therein lies the secret to their success.
Nienaber began his rugby journey as a physiotherapist but his aptitude for setting a defensive pattern was noticed by Erasmus when they took the Free State Cheetahs to the club’s first domestic title in 30 years in 2006. Stints together at the Stormers and Munster followed before SA Rugby sent a plea for help 18 months out from the World Cup in Japan. Over time Nienaber’s eye for detail grew, though his desire for the spotlight did not, preferring to let Erasmus monopolise attention.
There are still perceptions that this is Erasmus’s team. That even though he might have changed titles, he’s still pulling the strings and flashing commanding disco lights. But listening to the players, especially Siya Kolisi who regularly refers to “coach Rassie and coach Jacques” in the same breath, it’s clear that Nienaber has left his mark, most notably on the rush defence that is among the most stifling ploys in the game. One coach might make more noise, but they’re both the architects of this project.
Foster has travelled a more traditional route. Having played 13 years at fly-half for the Waikato Chiefs, he’d later take charge of the North Island club, achieving a 50% win ratio across eight seasons in Super Rugby. That was enough to see him appointed as Steve Hansen’s assistant at the All Blacks where the team won 93 of 108 Tests, including the 2015 World Cup final.
It was always going to be a tough act to follow and when Foster took over in 2020, rugby’s tectonic plates had already started to shift. Europe’s powers, particularly France and Ireland, began challenging for global supremacy and the exodus of South African clubs from Super Rugby after the Covid pandemic deprived their New Zealand counterparts of regular matches against teams that prefer a physical game.
Whatever the reason, Foster’s All Blacks had simultaneously lost their grunt and aura of invincibility. Under his watch New Zealand lost to Argentina for the first time in their history and also lost a home series for the first time since 1905 when they were downed 2-1 by Ireland. By the time he arrived in Johannesburg in August 2022, Foster was facing the axe and the threat of a sixth defeat in seven Tests.
A famous 35-23 win at the site of the All Blacks’ historic reverse in the 1995 World Cup final saved Foster’s career. “We were playing for our coach’s job,” New Zealand’s veteran scrum-half, Aaron Smith, said at the venue where the Erasmus-Nienaber era was launched in 2018 after the Springboks turned around a 24-3 deficit to beat England 42-39.
Despite that triumph, and despite winning all four Rugby Championships on offer, Foster has failed to win the love of the New Zealand public. And when New Zealand Rugby announced in May that the breakdancing Scott Robertson would take over after the World Cup regardless of the result, Foster adopted a siege mentality, barring his successor from attending any of New Zealand’s matches in France.
Still, he deserves credit on a number of fronts. He’s transformed Jordie Barrett into a crucial linchpin in midfield and has engineered a formidable front row with Ethan de Groot and Tyrel Lomax serving as pillars in the scrum. By bringing in Jason Ryan as the forwards coach and the former Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt as his deputy, Foster has built a crack team around him.
Now just hours away from his last dance, it’s worth considering what legacy he’ll leave behind. A victory over the old frenemy will see him join a trio of knights in Sir Brian Lochore, Sir Graham Henry and Sir Steve Hansen as a World Cup-winning All Blacks coach. But will he receive a similar title? Precedent would surely make that a certainty but there will be enough critics who would argue that the man described as “indignant and obstinate” by the New Zealand journalist Marc Hinton was a barrier for more sustained success.
There will be no such debate around Nienaber’s reputation. Like Erasmus, his status is secure in the hearts and minds of Springboks fans who have fully bought into the sincere nation-building narrative espoused by the camp. He will never be regarded as the equal of Erasmus, but he deserves as much credit in the “Rasnaber” axis. Under his watch the Springboks have added an attacking fluency to their trademark brutality.
On Thursday, Nienaber and Foster were shortlisted for World Rugby’s coach of the year. Whoever procures a World Cup winner’s medal will probably be awarded an additional accolade. Maybe then even casual fans will remember their name.
