All Blacks assistant coach Ian Foster says the All Blacks “love Vaea Fifita” and will speak to the spurned All Blacks forward to clear up any confusion about why he was dropped.
Fifita, who was not selected in the squad for the Rugby Championship, said in an interview that he felt like coach Steve Hansen was “not telling me the truth.”
"He told me that. But when I saw he got interviewed and he said he signed (Jackson) Hemopo to six, not lock, I kind of feel like he's not telling me the truth," Fifita told Stuff.
Foster told media in Sydney it was understandable that disappointed players “don’t hear things at certain times”, explaining that the selectors felt that Fifita returning to Wellington was the best thing for him.
“We love Vaea, we just felt the best thing for him, he had a mixed Super season and mainly playing at lock and we just felt it was time that he spent a bit more time at six to know that role really, really well,” Foster said.
“It was our intention that he’s far from gone in this squad and we’d love to see him back in soon.”
“If he hasn’t quite understood that, then we’ll go clear that up with him.”
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