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'It was far from perfect' - All Blacks out to improve despite victory over Springboks

September 23, 2019

Ian Foster gave his take on the All Blacks' World Cup opening win.

Despite last weekend's 23-13 victory over the Springboks, the All Blacks can - and need to - get better, says assistant coach Ian Foster.

In the most anticipated match up of the pool stage, the All Blacks claimed a thrilling win, most likely cementing top spot in Pool B, earning a quarter-final against one of either Scotland or Japan at this stage.

However, despite coming away with a win from their toughest assignment at the World Cup, Foster says that the All Blacks must get better ahead of facing the likes of Canada, Namibia and Italy.

"It was far from perfect, and we all know that," Foster said.

"But when the intention's there, and the desire to play, and to look for stuff and to back yourself is there, we've got to gamble that we're going to get more right than wrong.

"We won that ledger a little bit, but we've got to make sure that we get better and better.

Foster also said that the side were happy to get their biggest match of the pool stage out of the way first up.

"We put ourselves under a lot of pressure for this game, because it was a big one for the pool.

"We loved the draw, we loved having that massive game early, because it gave us a clear picture of where we're at.

"We're delighted with the win, we're delighted with parts of the performance, but we also got a clear picture of where we're at in some other areas.

"There's still enough play to make that game a real tight battle, and we've got to tidy a few things up.

"[There's] plenty of work to do, but good start."

The All Blacks next face Canada in Oita on October 2.

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