Will Steve Hansen stay on as All Black coach?
NZ Rugby CEO Steve Tew has confirmed that the All Black head coaching job will be discussed at their December board meeting.
He also hinted in an interview with Stuff that if incumbent Steve Hansen wishes to stay on past the 2019 Rugby World Cup, ‘he’ll be a strong contender.’
Hansen has not yet confirmed his plans after the Japan tournament, where the All Blacks will look to defend the title won in 1987, 2011 and 2015. However the prevailing thought is that if he were to step aside, assistant coach Ian Foster would be the frontrunner for the role.
Foster has now had five seasons in the All Black set up and it’s widely thought that a transitional process has already begun for him to take over. That hasn’t stopped rumours of the likes of Joe Schmidt, Vern Cotter, Dave Rennie and Warren Gatland making a challenge for the head coaching role when the World Cup is over, though.
“But we will have a clearly outlined process. The reality is you finish a Rugby World Cup in October and the next All Blacks game is not till June. There’s a reasonable amount of time, and the issue will be how that fits into the decision-making time-table of anyone else who wants to be All Blacks coach.”
Tew said there was a long list of standout contenders coaching both abroad and in New Zealand, and admitted a policy tweak was likely to allow offshore-based people to be considered.
“We’re going to talk about that. We need to make sure the best coaches possible are available to be appointed to that role. I think keeping Ian Foster in our midst has been very good if you are talking about obvious succession planning. He is one option who doesn’t have a head start or a disadvantage in any way, but he is clearly making a statement because he’s been a very important part of an incredibly successful era.
Tew kept his cards close to his chest when pressed on the issue, but also hinted that any of those names could feature in some sort of capacity.
“We’re going to talk about that. We need to make sure the best coaches possible are available to be appointed to that role. I think keeping Ian Foster in our midst has been very good if you are talking about obvious succession planning. He is one option who doesn’t have a head start or a disadvantage in any way, but he is clearly making a statement because he’s been a very important part of an incredibly successful era.
“We have a number of very good coaches around the world and a number doing other jobs in New Zealand and we will need more than one coach.”
Comments on RugbyPass
The Harlequins team must be in minus figures. Did the reporter actually watch the game?
2 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
2 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.
2 Go to commentsI’m sorry. That second half was far from enthralling. It was painful to watch.
2 Go to commentsVery generous! If you’d missed the game, reading this you’d conclude that it was the Quins front row that cost them the game. Marler getting a blanket 6 for his demented contribution to the game. Puzzling.
2 Go to commentsCan’t see Toulouse beating Leinster at this rate.
7 Go to commentsADP was having a very average game until winning that penalty for Toulouse, sticking his big head in the way. “The head of God”?
7 Go to commentsHarlequins doing their best to do as little damage as possible with all the possession. Looks like they skipped catch and pass drills this week.
7 Go to commentsSeeing pictures of Jacques high-fiving it with Irish players breaks my heart. Too soon. I need more time.
1 Go to commentsquins is all over the place. The minute they get the ball they panic. Quins can still win tho just need to win all rucks otherwise just don't bother.
7 Go to commentsGreat wins for the male & female kiwi sides. Ireland not far away..
1 Go to commentsWhy is this dude getting so much coverage? Usually knobs like this get cancelled.
2 Go to commentsWow. What was that? A 3 million word meandering article about what exactly?
2 Go to commentsNice piece of writing. And yes the Sharks pulled a rabbit from the hat and were a little lucky with that penalty try that wasn’t given… however the Sharks (with their resources) should be way more consistent and should be putting teams like Claremont away for breakfast. I expect more from them and hope they kick on now.
8 Go to commentsJust what the Sharks needed to get things going in the right direction Defence on the outside really creates havoc for the whole team and needs to be addressed.
8 Go to commentsWell done guys both teams will be ready to play knockout rugby.
1 Go to commentsSurprised that Ramos isn't starting at 15. But what a squad of galacticos!
2 Go to commentsWhy is it a snub? What journalistic garbage is that? Sure the guy is a great player, but there are plenty of loose forwards and not all of them can be Springboks. Also, I know of no-one who doubts Rassie’s judgment. South Africa has a conveyor belt of loose forwards that just keeps producing, so the competition is intense. I certainly wish him well, but there is no entitlement and there is no snub.
17 Go to commentsSkelton may be brought back for the Wallabies so that would be the only reason that may hinder Wilson. Easily the form, most skilful and game IQ of any Oz 8. Valentini’s best and favourite position is 6, but lineouts may be an issue with Skelton, Valentini and Wilson. Will be interesting what Schmidt goes for but for me Wilson should be picked on form. Schmidt rewards work rate, skill and consistency. All that glitters every so often won’t be in contention. Greely is one of those players that has a knack of making the right decision. A coach is going to love him because he knows week in week out he’s going to get the job done. The second try Greely wasn’t the guy who made the initial break it was Flook, Greely was at the bottom of the ruck when Flook was off along the sideline. Greely got up and made the effort to catch up with play but also read the play nicely and hit the pass from Campbell at pace and then held the pass beautifully to Ryan.
6 Go to comments