Foster to coach Australia/NZ side against Lions

20th Mar 2025 | Source: BBC

Ian Foster - here shaking hands with then-Lions boss Warren Gatland in 2017 - is still unsatisfied by the way that drawn series ended

Former New Zealand boss Ian Foster says "unfinished business" from the All Blacks' drawn series with the British and Irish Lions in 2017 motivated him to take the coaching reins of a combined Australia/New Zealand team which will face the tourists this summer.

The Lions will play the invitational side on 12 July in Adelaide in their final match before the opening Test against Australia in Brisbane a week later.

Foster was an assistant to Steve Hansen in 2017 when a controversial 15-15 draw in the third Test at Eden Park led to the spoils being shared from the Lions' trip to New Zealand.

French referee Romain Poite subsequently said that he got a crucial 78th-minute call wrong,, external after he awarded the hosts a scrum, rather than a penalty, for Lions hooker Ken Owens being offside.

His call denied the All Blacks a potentially match-winning, series-deciding kick at goal.

"Yeah, there is unfinished business. I think if you look back to the last minute of that Lions series - the third Test at Eden Park and the drama of it, referee decisions that obviously we disagreed with and probably most people did," said Foster.

"One-one and a draw. It didn't leave any of us very satisfied."

New Zealand captain Kieran Read attempted in vain to get Romain Poite to stick with his original decision to award the All Blacks a penalty, rather than a scrum

Foster took over from Hansen after New Zealand's 2019 Rugby World Cup campaign ended in semi-final defeat by England.

He won four straight Rugby Championship titles and led the side to the 2023 Rugby World Cup final where they were defeated by South Africa, before being replaced by Scott Robertson.

The 59-year-old now coaches Japanese side Toyota Verblitz.

Richie Mo'unga, Shannon Frizell and Ngani Laumape are among the former New Zealand internationals also in Japan, outside of eligibility for the All Blacks, who might potentially turn out for the invitational side.

"Maybe put a few younger, up-and-coming Australian players with some older heads, maybe some ex-All Blacks and then maybe try to find a few older Wallaby heads," said Foster, who said he hoped the side would be split 60:40 between Australians and New Zealanders.

"That combination between the young and old, I think, is more important."

It has also been confirmed that the Lions will take on a First Nations and Pasifika XV on 22 July in Melbourne.

The fixture replaces a match against the Melbourne Rebels, who went into administration after the initial itinerary was announced in July 2023.