Steve Hansen overcome with emotion by crowd gesture as All Blacks career comes to a close

“Just a privilege.”

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Hansen’s response was preceded by about 20 seconds of uproarious cheering from the 50,000-strong crowd in Tokyo, at which the All Blacks head coach could do nothing but stand and reciprocate the applause.

Hansen led the All Blacks to 93 wins from 107 tests, with just 10 losses in his seven-year reign.

The team’s domination of the sport for the best part of the last decade saw Hansen named World Rugby’s Coach of the Year four times and the All Blacks named World Rugby’s Team of the Year six times.

“It was important we came back and honoured the jersey and our fans, and to get over the disappointment of last week,” Hansen said after the win over Wales.

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While it wasn’t the triumphant send-off for Hansen and the departing players in the sense that they were probably hoping for, the All Blacks played with freedom and put on a vintage performance reflective of how the team has played under Hansen.

“We played pretty good footy all the way through,” Hansen said. “One bad day, you lose a game and you miss out; that’s what knockout football is about, but I was really proud of the boys today.”

Read was also interviewed post-match and was asked what it means to him to be in the All Blacks jersey.

Holding the emotion back, Read said: “This jersey means a lot,” he said. “It’s been part of my life for a long time. For me, it dictates that you try and leave it in a better place than you found it. That was my aim for my entire career and hopefully, I’ve done that.”

This article first appeared on nzherald.co.nz and was republished with permission.

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