PODCAST: Ian Foster lifts the lid on the selectors thinking ahead of Ireland Series

All Blacks Head Coach Ian Foster joined the All Blacks podcast to look back on his playing career, answer fan questions, discuss the 2022 All Blacks squad naming and much more.

On the All Blacks Podcast, Foster said that opposing sides demonstrated last year that they had worked hard to lift their game speed and skills to New Zealand's standard.

After a great Rugby Championship, the All Blacks had gone north but were not allowed to play at their preferred speed and lost to Ireland and France, who were fast and skilful.

"It's just a bit of an upper cut for us. Some of the things we've taken for granted, 'oh that's the All Blacks, that's natural'," Foster said.

Usually the first two years of a World Cup cycle were about establishing a style of game and having it run smoothly, he said.

"Often, the third year is about building some depth, and then the fourth year is about go and do it.

"We've had to flip that over. The first year we only had six Tests. Last year we had 15, but we were away from home. We had 40 players because of Covid quarantine and all that stuff.

"So we went to a depth strategy last year.

"This year we are going to narrow the squad down a little bit," he said.

That meant they would name 36 in the first squad on June 13, which would probably reduce later in the year.