Steve Hansen leaves excellent Bledisloe legacy
Keeping the Bledisloe Cup under lock and key for his entire tenure with the All Blacks will be one of Steve Hansen's most gratifying achievements upon departure this year.
Hansen has revealed a "not on my watch" attitude to retaining the trans-Tasman prize became more focused as each defence ticked by.
The 36-0 victory in Auckland on Saturday made it 16 in a row and allowed the veteran coach to exhale.
Hansen steps down after the World Cup and regardless of whether the All Blacks defend their crown in Japan, the 60-year-old will regard his Bledisloe shut-out as an accomplishment to savour.
He joined New Zealand's coaching structure as an assistant to Graham Henry in 2004, a year after the record reign began.
Eight years in that role were followed by eight in charge.
Multiple Bledisloe Cup Tests have marked every season and he says the occasions when the Wallabies had sent the series to a decider remain burned in his memory.
"It's massive," he said.
"As we've talked about for many years now, outside the World Cup it's the most important thing that we have.
"We seem to have this thing in World Cup years that we come to that final game and have to win.
"It's just a nice feeling to be able to say, 'well, not on my watch'."
Saturday's Test was Hansen's 100th in charge, a milestone he played down.
However, he has few peers over that period having lost just nine times.
Only three of 23 trans-Tasman Tests have been lost, including the 2015 World Cup final.
Australia can't celebrate seeing the back of him just yet as the All Blacks and Wallabies could meet again in Japan, although it would need to be in the last-four stage of the tournament.
- AAP
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Hard to disagree with the 5 points - with the exception that Wilson should be a squad member but, depending on the other loose forward selections, is not yet a shoo-in. McReight is. Aussie is looking a lot better this year and JS has some selection options. Also, Havili’s tendency to get caught, charged down is also a liability at times but he seemed focused (mostly) and is definitely a consideration for utility back-up. Still feel Reihana is a better prospect at 1st five for Saders.
Go to commentsThink it was a great defensive performance by Northampton. They didn't have stage fright in the first half, the Nienaber defense smothered them. They limited Leinster to 15-3 in the first half. It could have been over by then. A great try from Leinster in the start of the second half looked to have sealed it. But Byrne missed another conversion. Northampton started trying little kicks behind the Leinster wingers. Leinster messed one and Smith brilliantly made the conversion. Leinster decided to tighten the game after Byrne missed a straight forward penalty. A few errors got NH into the 22 and they scored and converted with a few minutes left. Another brilliant steal from Lawes saw NH have a final attack which was turned over by Conan. A classic semi final. World record attendance of 82,300. Leinsters 3 week preparation warranted for this one.
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