Page 15 - All Blacks v Lions - First Test

ALL BLACKS HEAD COACH
Steve Hansen has been in the game long enough – has experienced its ebb and ow, and twice been
involved in scaling the heights to Rugby World Cup success – to be understandably excited by the bigger challenges left in the game.
Taking on the British & Irish Lions in the DHL New Zealand Lions Series in 2017 is one such credit that would add lustre to his coaching CV.
This Lions Series has been a long time coming. Not only from 12 years ago, when he was relatively new in Graham Henry’s coaching structure, but even through to this year with practically a full Investec Super Rugby season to get through before he could get his hands on the players to prepare ahead of tonight’s rst Test.
Is two weeks enough for the
All Blacks ahead of the Series? That’s always the question, but the planning has been going on for much longer through applied analysis. “It’s part of coaching that you try and out-guess the other person, or the other team, and our team is trying to do that,” Hansen says. “Our coaching group is thinking, ‘What are they going to bring, what do we need to adjust or adapt?’ And over a three-match series, it is quite enthralling. We’ve had a look at them and they’re telling us they’re keeping something back. Is that a bluff, or is it true?
Part of it will be true and some of it will be a bit of bluff – we’ll wait and see.
“We call it the ABC – assume some things, believe nothing until we con rm them on the park. Your analysis allows you to do that.
“How have we got to the point we’ve got to so far? We’ve analysed how Wales play. We’ve analysed how Ireland defend – it’s their Defence Coach that’s here. It’s Wales’ Attack Coach here and
it’s Wales who Warren [Gatland] has been Head Coach of, so that allows you to get a bit of a feel.
“Then you look at what you know about their specialist coaches, and [Steve] Borthwick and [Graham] Rowntree are from England. They’ve got a huge work ethic, so you know they’re going to be doing the same thing.
“It’s a little bit like The Art of War
– you have to know your enemy. The better you know them and understand them, the better your assumptions can be. But you can’t afford to believe them, because they could be setting you up. So, you have got to con rm it when
you get out on the park and have adaptability to be able to play what
is required,” he says.
“It’s a little bit like
The Art of War –
you have to know
your enemy. But
you can’t a ord to
believe them.”
Hansen knows the Lions are a very good side. He has known it since the squad was rst announced. The key to their success is going to be how those combinations have developed in a short space of time.
The All Blacks carry the weight of the public’s expectations, especially when playing at home – and that holds just as true during a Lions tour. “The thing about the All Blacks is you’re expected to win every Test match,” he says. “You don’t get a day off – and you’re expected to win it well.”
That creates pressure that some cope with better than others. Hansen
believes that once players embrace and understand it, it becomes easier to walk forward. “You either say, ‘I’m into this’ or ‘I’m out of it,’ and once you commit yourself to it you’ve got to get in, boots and all,” he says. “The difference between a Lions tour and the World Cup is that there’s a lot more scrutiny on the other team as well. I don’t think it changes for us. That’s what I said in 2015 when we were at the World Cup.
“I said to the boys that nothing has changed for us. We are expected to win this thing. But now everyone else is too, so they’ve got to come to our party, and that’s the same when the Lions come. They’re four countries coming into one, so they’re expected to win, and when they don’t, they are put under pressure. You’ve seen that when they haven’t played well, or have lost games on this tour, their management, and particularly the coaching staff, are put under pressure. That’s where we live all the time.”
As was evident in the Test against Samoa last weekend, the skills advantage is clearly with the All Blacks. But even as the man who bene ts directly from the talent ID and player development networks that extend from schools and club rugby to the provincial championship and through to Investec Super Rugby, Hansen still nds himself in awe of what young players are capable of doing. “I think we’ve always had skilful players, but what’s happened is that, as society matured, and with the invention of TV and YouTube, the world has become a smaller place. Young kids are watching people do extraordinary things, particularly in a sporting arena. So they’ll see a basketball player throw a ridiculous back- ip ball to someone and they’ll think, ‘I want to do that. I can do that. Why can’t I do that playing?’
“They adapt and adjust what they are seeing to whatever game they
PROFILE
DHL NEW ZEALAND LIONS SERIES 2017 // 15