Few rivals in his winning ways

On top of his game?

Professional sport is measured almost entirely in statistics. Although rugby only joined the real world in 1996, when the cobwebs of amateurism were finally blown away, All Blacks coach Steve Hansen’s winning record in international sport would be bettered only by United States basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski.

Since taking over from Graham Henry, after playing a significant hand in the All Blacks winning the World Cup in 2011, Hansen has overseen 58 tests for 53 wins, two draws and just three losses. That’s a winning record of 91.4 per cent.

While it does not match that of Fred Allen, who won 14 out of 14 test matches as New Zealand head coach between 1966 and 1968, Hansen’s record stands above that of Graham Henry (85 per cent), John Mitchell (82 per cent) and Wayne Smith (70 per cent) in the professional era.

Allen achieved an almost mythical status as a coach as he guided the All Blacks to a 4-0 win over the 1966 Lions during his unbeaten tenure but he coached at a time when European rugby was weak, opposing sides could not be analysed in any detail and home tests did not feature neutral officials.

Coaching has become much more difficult than when Allen had the job.

Increased test schedules, more public and media demands, advanced sports science, expectant global sponsors while all the time delivering a product that New Zealand Rugby can sell to its paymasters puts huge stress on the modern All Blacks coach.

Hansen manages it while remaining largely accessible across a broad spectrum of mediums, giving honest and often sharp interviews while never steering away from hard questions or issues.

That ability is secondary, however, to what he produces on the field, having become the first All Blacks coach to win the World Cup offshore while retaining the Bledisloe Cup, the Dave Gallagher Cup, the Freedom Cup and the Hillary Shield.

The 2015 Rugby Championship was sacrificed under his watch for the betterment of the team as he experimented in Australia in the leadup to the World Cup to refine game plans and weed out frailties.

That was proven a week later when the All Blacks thumped the Wallabies 41-13 to sow the seed of doubt that helped them lift the Webb Ellis Cup at Twickenham.

Hansen has also been unrivalled in his ability to integrate players into the test arena to build their experience of key situations so the team never suffers when caught by injuries or form dips. What other national coach could handle the loss of more than 800 test caps and deliver even better performances?

He moves the game continuously forward without ever letting complacency be a bedfellow, not only among senior team members but support staff, assistant coaches and selectors.

It is his ability to bring that support in that also separates Hansen from his past rivals.

Never afraid to search for better ways to improve the All Blacks environment, Hansen finds experts in their fields and uses them to keep the All Blacks at the top of the world’s elite sports teams while silencing critics who would have once been shocked at carrying the 18 support staff he employed to win the World Cup.

‘‘What other national coach could handle the loss of more than 800 test caps and deliver even better performances?’’ Glenn Mclean ‘‘We have to take into account that Hansen was handed a team in a strong position.’’ Shaun Eade