Former All Blacks coach Ian Foster say he is "at peace", after taking the team to the World Cup final, despite feeling he lacked NZ Rugby's full support during his often stormy tenure.
In March, NZR appointed Scott Robertson to take over the All Blacks after the World Cup, against the wishes of Foster, who had urged the governing body to hold off on a coaching decision, until after the tournament.
Foster also nearly lost his job last year, after the All Blacks' first home series defeat to Ireland, but two of his assistant coaches were fired instead, after an NZR review.
Appointed after the 2019 World Cup on a two-year deal, Foster says NZR's interest in Robertson, the hugely successful Canterbury Crusaders coach, had made his position awkward from the start.
"When I got the job, it always seemed to be under a condition, didn't it?" he told Newstalk ZB. "It was the two-year contract.
"They had another candidate that half the people wanted and from then on, it was the lens that they looked [through] everything that we did.
"I wouldn't say there was a lack of trust, I just think, when you think you've got a plan B in your pocket, sometimes you don't back plan A probably as much as you could."
With the help of new forwards coach Jason Ryan and former Ireland boss Joe Schmidt on his staff, Foster was able to turn the All Blacks around and they fell just short of a record fourth World Cup title, losing 12-11 to South Africa in the final.
"I'm at peace that we did everything we could, that we gave it everything we got, but still there's always a massive disappointment we couldn't get across the line," he said.
Now unemployed, Foster says he brushed off coaching offers in the lead-up to the World Cup to focus on the All Blacks campaign and several opportunities were now gone.
Australia are looking for a new coach after the resignation of Eddie Jones.
After winning the 215 World Cups as an All Blacks assistant coach, Foster says it would be hard to move on to another nation.
"It's immensely difficult to talk about trying to coach another country, when you've just had 12 years with the best team in the world and who are so close to my heart," he added.
"Quite frankly, I just need to breathe a little bit, before I go down that path."
Reuters
