Hansen: ‘It’s been a good year for us’

All Blacks coach grateful to have much to learn from

Steve Hansen is right to trade off his track record. It’s outstanding.

For the rugby they’ve played, the results they’ve achieved and the way they’ve conducted themselves, Hansen’s All Blacks sides are probably the ones that all future ones will be measured by. Whether Hansen remains involved in the New Zealand rugby scene or not, he will cast a huge shadow over his successors.

When, or if, he decides to step away as All Blacks head coach, we’re still to find out. His contract officially expires in February 2020, by which time we’ll be well aware if he led the side to a third successive World Cup title or not.

In the meantime, it’s a previous World Cup triumph Hansen has been referencing.

This has been a mixed year for the All Blacks. They really are a fantastically good and successful side who invariably lift themselves to meet and better most challengers. You have to give them credit for that.

But they have also appeared vulnerable in 2018, with a few senior players looking a little brittle physically or else slightly off the pace.

There’s a very fine line between backing proven performers and hanging onto blokes who aren’t quite up to it anymore.

Thankfully, as Hansen wasn’t bashful about alluding to in Rome this week, he’s been down this road before. And how did that turn out?

‘‘It’s been a good year for us. We’ve had some good results, we’ve had a some very, very tight games where we’ve had to come back to win from behind and we’ve lost a couple,’’ Hansen said ahead of tomorrow’s clash with Italy in Rome.

‘‘In those tight games, and in the games that we lost, there’s been plenty of gifts for us to learn and we’ll end up with a winning percentage I think that will be exactly the same as that of 2014– of about 85.6 per cent or 86.5 per cent.

‘‘We’ll come out of it with a lot of learnings, and few stones in the shoe and under the towel, so guys will be driven to be better next year and that’s exactly what we want.’’

Which is almost to say that things have been scripted this way in 2018.

That losing to South Africa in Wellington, then giving them such a head start in Pretoria, was all part of the plan.

That relying on a Television Match Official to scrape home at Twickenham, then hardly firing a shot in Dublin was all designed to keep players enthused for World Cup year.

You’d say it was hogwash and a version of events designed to deflect

attention away from the fact this campaign is ending in disappointing fashion. Except that, with Hansen’s track record, it would be a brave soul who doubted that he’ll get the response he wants from the team in 2019.

Tomorrow in Rome marks the end of a long season for the players. Hansen and his staff will still have a few things to review, but he won’t let these last few months burden him too greatly over the summer.

‘‘It’s always an easy gig when you’re winning. It’s a little tougher

when you lose because you’ve got to go a bit deeper and find the reasons why,’’ Hansen said.

‘‘But I love the job. The job’s not hard to do and I’ll be forever grateful for being given the opportunity to do it.

‘‘Physically and mentally and emotionally you get tired by the end of the year, but it’s a matter of getting up and doing your job. It’s not that difficult.

‘‘I can turn off and turn on pretty quick. I don’t have too much trouble sleeping at night.’’

‘‘I love the job. The job’s not hard to do and I’ll be forever grateful for being given the opportunity to do it.’’ Steve Hansen