All Blacks coach Ian Foster has eased doubts over his immediate future in the role, fronting media to name his squad to face world champions South Africa in the Rugby Championship next month.
Foster was grilled after Saturday's historic series-deciding loss to Ireland at Wellington, fending off three different questions over his desire and ability to continue at the helm during the post-match media conference, before that line of questioning was shut down.
The next day, a scheduled stand-up at the team hotel was cancelled, fuelling speculation that his days were numbered. Instead, NZ Rugby chief executive Mark Robinson released a statement describing the series performance as "not acceptable" and promising a full review.
Foster is currently contracted to guide the All Blacks to next year's World Cup in France and his appearance in Auckland on Friday confirms he has kept his job for now.
"As a head coach, there have been a lot of questions over the past couple of weeks," he said. "Let me tell you who I am - I'm strong, I'm resilient and I think I've proven that.
"I believe I have a great feel and relationship with my players. I'm strategic and I'm also accountable, and I take that on board.
"I promise you, I understand that and I'm really excited about the chance to show you what this team is made of, working alongside the players we've selected in this squad."
Much of the conjecture centred around Foster's continuation in the role of head coach, the fate of captain Sam Cane, whether assistant coaches might become the scapegoats for the Irish defeat, and a possible expanded role for new selector and former Ireland coach Joe Schmidt.
Cane has retained the captaincy and no other changes are immediately forthcoming, although Foster alludes to possible tweaks to be confirmed soon.
"We've been through a busy week," he said. "We've been through a series where we, as a team, didn't achieve what we needed to achieve, and the result of that is the last 3-4 days have been busy.
"We've had some robust conversations with management, NZ Rugby and our senior players, and that should happen and you'd expect it to happen.
"From those conversations, I'm proud of the accountability that I've heard from the players on their part and from my management team, and we have an utter commitment and a clear plan for how we will move forward.
"We never are happy when we don't achieve what we want to achieve. We understand the fans aren't happy with that, but we promise that we are looking forward to getting stuck into our work when we get together for the Rugby Championship to produce a game of rugby that New Zealanders can be proud of."
Foster spent the first few minutes of his media conference in monologue, reaffirming his commitment to righting the ship, and then faced the inevitable cross-examination.
"There's no doubt I'm under pressure," he conceded. "But can I just say I'm always under pressure and I've always felt that pressure.
"External people will try to intensify that pressure, but it doesn't change the fact that, as an All Black coach, you live in that world all the time.
"Does it hurt? Yes, it does, but the key thing for me is about ensuring we have a robust process to make sure we have the right people sitting in the right seats."
Foster insists closing down his scheduled media appointment on Sunday was not his decision, but hinted he needed time over ensuing days for conversations with those around him.
"I understand the frustration," he said. "I, as a head coach, would never, ever not communicate with my fanbase when it's expected that I communicate with them.
"I know my responsibility is to talk to the fanbase and if I knew I was supposed to do that, I would do that all the time.
"We're coming off a disappointing series, we get that. We have to make sure we have real conversations behind the scenes, there's different levels of conversations and they've all been had."
Foster confirms Schmidt will not travel to South Africa with the squad, but will provide strategic support, as a selector and opposition analyst.
How close was Foster to walking away from the All Blacks job?
"Not at all," he insists. "Not. At. All."
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