All Blacks head coach Graham Henry backs Steve Hansen as his replacment - Rugby News
Graham Henry, who stepped down from the position of All Blacks head coach yesterday, October 31, has backed his assistant, Steve Hansen, for the vacant post.
Graham Henry, the Rugby World Cup winning coach of All Blacks, told the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) on November 1 that Hansen has got good relations with the players and he could work in a proper way with the side. Hansen has been working with the recently retired Henry as an assistant coach since 2004 and played a vital role for the All Blacks to win the Webb Ellis Trophy after 24 years.
The 52-year-old Hansen started off his career as professional rugby coach back in 2000 with Wales as assistant coach. Later on, he was promoted to head coach of Wales after the departure of Graham Henry in 2002. His motivations worked for Welsh side right from the very first game of his career as head coach where they delivered outstanding performance against France but unfortunately lost the game by a close margin of 37-33.
However, he failed to guide his team to a single victory in the Six Nations championship 2003 and received the longest losing streak of 11 tests. The defeats included a trounce by the minnows Romania during the same year. Hansen stood firm and managed to lead his side to seal a quarter final berth, in RWC 2003 after that.
Supporting his ex-assistant, Steve Hansen, Graham Henry said that, “He's got a very good relationship with the players. They enjoy him and enjoy his coaching. He's got a good feel for the game, an understanding for the game and it's a natural feel. He wants to win, which is very important.”
The former coach added that, “I think there needs to be continuity. I think you learn a lot by being in this position and if you had a complete change of the coaching team you lose that continuity, you lose what has been learned before and you have to start from scratch again so I think Steve Hansen should do the job.”
Meanwhile, NZRU has yet made any decision in this regard.
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