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Hansen: 'We all know where our nipples are'

All Blacks head coach Steve Hansen

New Zealand head coach Steve Hansen has welcomed World Rugby’s latest proposal to safeguard the wellbeing of players.

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The governing body is set to trial a new regulation during the Under-20 Championship in which players will not be able to make contact with opponents above their chest during a tackle, with the change aimed to reduce instances of head injuries and other types of potentially dangerous contact.

The plans have been criticised in some quarters within the game, but Hansen feels the initiative has merit. 

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“I think it’s good, I think it’s better than below the shoulder because there’s quite a lot of games where you make the tackle and it doesn’t look to be a bad tackle and yet it’s been penalised,” the All Blacks coach said.

“The clearer you can make it, the better – we all know where our nipples are, so hit below that and you’re okay.

“Is it going to solve the problems? We’re still going to get concussions because you’ve got two or three people piling into a collision and not everyone’s putting their head in the right place.”

The World Cup-winning coach also defended himself against criticism of the timing of the All Blacks’ latest training camp, which has caused some disruption to New Zealand’s Super Rugby teams. 

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“Is it ideal for everybody? No,” he said.

“But it is what it is and we have had plenty of time to plan for it, and plenty of time to understand. When you look at the [Super Rugby] results, what effect did it really have?

“We want the players to leave here invigorated and excited … we can get all ‘Sulky Sally’ about it, or we can get on with it, you know? It is just the way it is.”

New Zealand face France at Auckland’s Eden Park on June 9 in the first of three Tests, with the series also including games in Wellington and Dunedin. 

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t
takata 1 hour ago
Can Les Bleus avoid a Black-wash in New Zealand?

If you have ever been involved with a rugby team you will know that those 2-3 week rest periods do not matter. Yes the body recharges temporarily but the battery runs down again real quick with 25-30 games already embedded in it.

Bullshit!

In fact those very few weeks do absolutely matter when the alternative is no break at all from a long serie of very high intensity games (including the intense emotional drain for all those involved), with no preparation at all for the next test match after a big travel at the other end of the world. And It’s not like they would have to start a brand new season as they will only add a couple of games to their total - hence the chance of those rested players being injured is seriously reduced vs the alternative.


The period of May-June is the crux of their entire season for those playing the play off in Top 14 and the Champions Cup. As you probably know, it’s very difficult to come down from there (or your “credentials” as a rugby analyst were certainly usurped). It’s also in contradiction with your main point of comparison between the English tour of 2014 and the French one of 2025 (and all those before since a couple of decade).


And this is the truly ridiculous part. Teams only get better by developing connections and understandings in their sub-units and that means familiarity. Playing in the company of the same bloke next to you.

Part of the job for an “analyst” is to analyse, right? Not to look at stuff like if there was only one way of proceeding and to discard anything else with a lot of arrogance. You probably weren’t very succesfull at this job, I guess.


Then you should have certainly already analysed that, from the start of his tenure, Galthié always used both “Test” windows to test as many players and as many things as he likes; there is no pressure put on him to win during those “friendlies”. The November serie is a test bed for the future 6 Nations team and the summer serie was always used for keeping fringe players involved with the main group (old and new ones). Lots of good things for the main team came from this way of operating. Maybe he’ll finally be rewarded one day at the WC, or his successor in the future. I don’t mind waiting.


He already gave us many good games to watch and there is a lot of talent comming thru the system.

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