Steve Hansen overcome with emotion by crowd gesture as All Blacks career comes to a close
By Christopher Reive, NZ Herald
When the final whistle sounded in the All Blacks‘ 40-17 decimation of Wales for third place at the 2019 Rugby World Cup, it ended more than the game.
With it, the curtain came down the All Blacks careers of Kieran Read, Ben Smith, Ryan Crotty, Sonny Bill Williams, Matt Todd and coach Steve Hansen.
It’s a group that have spent plenty of time together since Hansen took over from Graham Henry in 2012 after working as an assistant coach with the team from 2004-2011. Through seven years at the helm, Hansen led the All Blacks to several Rugby Championships, maintained the Bledisloe Cup throughout that time and won a Rugby World Cup in 2015.
So when the moment came at the final whistle and Hansen was asked how it has been for him to be a part of the All Blacks environment over the years, with tears in his eyes, he forced out three words.
“Just a privilege.”
https://twitter.com/rugbyworldcup/status/1190234523478503424
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.
https://www.instagram.com/tv/B4U0Z-gg2xI/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
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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Comments on RugbyPass
The game was already over leave the bloke alone ….from a Welsh fan 😀👍
2 Go to commentsShamefully the Toulouse players acted like footballers, falling down feigning injury at the slightest knock. About time refs penalised this play acting.
6 Go to commentsAnother non Scot for the anti Scot Townsend. Soon there will be no Scottish born and bred players in the National team.
1 Go to commentsGreat comeback to the playing field by Richie Mo’unga after the loss of his father. A great performance by Richie . I know him well and he is a great guy. On and off the field one of the greatest for the Crusaders. Scott Robertson would have loved him in his All Black’s side. A very missed player and person.
2 Go to commentsYeah nah he comes across as a funny bloke, but that stopped abruptly after the Nutcracker Prince debacle✋
2 Go to commentsAt this point I can’t watch him without thinking he’s a dirty slimebag. He should have been banned for the same amount of time that Quinn was out. It took Tupaea near on a fricking year to get fit enough to play again and his leg will never be the same. The other crap thing is that he was at ABs level and now he has to claw his way back there when he could have had several games under his belt.
4 Go to commentsThe Black Ferns 7’s have been without Captain Sarah Hirini now since Dec 23 in Dubai where she suffered a bad ACL injury - hopefully she is on the road to recovery for Madrid and Paris. Now also have Tyler King and Shiray kaka on the Injured List but the Team still found a way to win in Singapore and claim the overall Title.
1 Go to commentsUtter grub, hope he gets his leg broken. Shocking he is still playing after intentionally breaking quinn tupaeas knee
4 Go to commentsGreat to see NZ 7s teams finally coming into form and playing at the level that is expected of them.
2 Go to commentsChief Cheapshot on the market again.
4 Go to commentsCrusaders went all in to buy Hotham and Kemara staight from Hamilton Boys. Then they picked up Reihana and Hohepa; all have been dropped for superstar Havili, who is a very good fullback, that’s it. Ennor and Goodhue were schoolboy stars too but went backwards at the Crusaders. Maybe they have finally decided to give another poach Levi Aumua the ball?
13 Go to commentsJoe S has some talent to pick from. The Reds loosies look the best in Super? Aus might just give Razor a headache this year. Int. experience v Cantab greenhorn:) Should be fun.
13 Go to commentsEnd to end play, “THE FANS” this game was entertainment of the best. The conditions added to the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsSorry to say, but sadly the sadas were just ordinary and havilli at 10 as an abs selection just won’t cut it. He’s better suited in the centre’s and is a victim of past charge down kicks, he’s too slow under pressure. There’s better talent further north and I don’t mean dmac however I believe razor will sort him out. A feature of his presents on the park is the fact that the guys will follow him.
13 Go to commentsMarler was brilliant throughout both in the scrum and open play. His slap made virtually no contact with Ramos who milked it for a penalty when he could have been a decent sportsman and laughed it off, it was non-violent and shouldn't have been penalised. Smith failed repeatedly to kick when necessary and put up a couple of bombs into the TLS 22 that just handed back possession at key moments to the other side.
3 Go to commentsCros was outstanding and rightly awarded France TVs player of the match award. Mallia was brilliant as usual (the y is below the 6 on a UK keyboard and he deserves better than that). Level also seems to have been scored harshly as he walked the ball into touch under pressure from a Lynagh kick from well outside his own half which should never have led to a 50-22. Agree with BullShark that Dupont, while class at times, seemed to go missing for patches in the second half with props, hookers and wings frequently filling in at 9 as he couldn't get off the deck and up to the next ruck on time. A 7 by his standards at best, his kicking was also too long, too often. Kinghorn's overall contribution was worth well more than a five.
6 Go to commentsThe Harlequins team must be in minus figures. Did the reporter actually watch the game?
6 Go to commentsHow on earth did Walker escape a red card? Not dangerous? Dupont has his face in a mask earlier this season. Shocking decision. What is the point of TMOs? We had the Fassi ‘non-penalty try’ yesterday and now this.
2 Go to commentsCould have been a different result but yet again French tv able to affect the result by not showing the very clear high shot on harlequin centre if this would have been on a French player would have been on screen at least five times
3 Go to commentsAmazing. The losing team’s ratings are higher than the winning team’s. Mallia definitely didn’t deserve a y. What game were you watching? Should have got a w or an x. ADP hardly featured in that second half. At one point I wondered when he’d been subbed. Seems to me as if he gets an automatic 9 just for getting onto the team sheet.
6 Go to comments