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Steve Hansen's impeccable legacy due one last hurrah

By Online Editors
Steve Hansen speaks to media during the All Blacks Foundation Day at Ardmore Marist Rugby & Sports Club (Photo by Dave Rowland/Getty Images)

Patrick McKendry / NZ Herald

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On Wednesday, Steve Hansen will name his 31-player squad to contest the World Cup in Japan. It will be a talented group who will be favourites to win the tournament for the third time in a row and if they are successful a big reason why will be due to Hansen and his coaching group.

It takes a bit to fluster the All Blacks head coach, a man who replied “just my arm” when asked during the 2015 World Cup whether he had anything more up his sleeve.

But in the immediate aftermath of the occasion of his 100th test recently, Hansen appeared visibly emotional for a moment when asked whether or not the 36-0 victory in the Eden Park Bledisloe Cup decider made his milestone more special.

“Look,” he told Sky Sports interviewer Ian Smith, “I’m immensely proud… it’s a privilege.” With Hansen’s voice catching at this point, Smith wrapped it up. Both appeared relieved at the decision.

Later, Hansen told the assembled media how proud he was that his players responded to what had happened in Perth seven days prior. He was thoroughly composed at this point but there was no doubt this test was more special than most.

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He had already been recognised by the players for reaching 100 tests alongside former head coach Sir Graham Henry, Hansen’s predecessor. But Hansen’s wife Natasha and children had bought him a watch with an engraved message, a gift, one could safely say, that hit a different but just as significant emotional chord.

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The victory over the Wallabies will allow Hansen to leave for new pastures after the World Cup without ever losing the Bledisloe Cup. “Not on my watch,” was the mantra, and, given the way his men performed despite the pressure and expectation was a credit to them and Hansen’s coaching group, including assistant Ian Foster, who was presented with a ceremonial mere marking his own 100th test.

With the keyboard warriors writing off Hansen and his team as old and tired and next to useless after the Perth loss it’s no wonder the head coach was feeling more pressure than usual last week. Hansen does well to ignore the worst of it, but some would have filtered through.

“Everyone externally was starting to get a bit shaky, starting to question whether the coaches still had it, the players still had it,” Hansen said.

There were questions about his skipper Kieran Read, Hansen said. Some punters wearing black at Perth’s Optus Stadium were muttering about how Read was apparently a shadow of his former self, seemingly unaware of how compromised he was by the sending off of Scott Barrett and the mountain of defensive work he got through, and clearly that criticism had got through to Hansen too.

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“The external group of our nation can now breathe slightly easier,” he added.

But he continued: “The day New Zealand rugby doesn’t have an external scrutiny like it does [is the day] the game is not where it was. People care, they have high expectations and those high expectations I think drive the high internal expectations as well.”

If the former policeman and current racehorse owner and enthusiast sometimes sounds like he has seen it all, that’s because he pretty much has. And that’s life in general. As All Blacks head coach his record after 100 tests is 87 wins, four draws and only nine defeats.

Only Australia have beaten the All Blacks more than twice during Hansen’s reign.

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He has the experience to know what’s right and what isn’t and the confidence to go with his instincts if in any doubt. He has said before that his work as a cop gave him insights into human behaviour and he has spoken before too about how working with horses has taught him the importance of picking up cues and adapting.

After assisting Henry to the 2011 victory in New Zealand and leading the All Blacks to the 2015 triumph in England, there could hardly be a better person to head the coaching group to Japan.

Which is not to say he’ll do it all himself. Foster, who, along with Scott Robertson is a leading contender to replace Hansen next year, will play his own part as a foil and occasional provocateur.

“He’s a strong man, Foz,” Hansen said a day after handing the Wallabies a hiding. “You may not think he is but he’s got his own opinions and he doesn’t change them too easily.

“We trust each other a lot. My whole philosophy on coaching is if you give people the job then you’ve got to step back and let them do it and empower them to do it and guide them when you need to guide them.

“We’re good mates and we’ll always be good mates.”

Hansen’s record as All Blacks head coach

Played: 100
Won: 87
Drawn: 4 (South Africa 2, British and Irish Lions, Australia)
Lost: 9 (Australia 3, Ireland 2, South Africa 2, England, British and Irish Lions)

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

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Jon 7 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 10 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

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Adrian 12 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

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