Winds of change for All Blacks?
Steve Hansen’s pending departure is sure to fan the winds of change through the All Blacks’ management team.
The question is whether it will be a gentle breeze or a powerful storm that sweeps through NZ Rugby’s prized team when Hansen retires after the World Cup in Japan next year.
There is potential for his exit to send a convulsion through the All Blacks’ back office.
For the first time since late 2003, when John Mitchell was sacked by NZ Rugby and replaced by Graham Henry, there will be a genuine contest for the most high profile coaching job in world rugby.
Assistant Ian Foster may well be at the best odds to replace Hansen, but there will be no shortage of quality candidates lining up to put the heat on NZ Rugby and demand it gets this right.
When Hansen replaced Henry after the 2011 World Cup, his elevation to the top job, after eight years as an assistant, was a fait accompli; Vern Cotter was encouraged to apply and granted an interview by NZ Rugby, but it was always going to be Hansen’s job to lose.
Unlike Henry, who brought in Wayne Smith and Hansen as his assistants and then set about bringing in fresh faces to other positions within the management team, Hansen didn’t recruit, hire and fire new staff in 2012.
Manager Darren Shand, who NZ Rugby appointed as a replacement for Tony Thorpe at the end of Mitchell’s reign, stayed in the job.
Smith and Mike Cron remained as assistants. So did the majority of other support staff who worked in a variety of jobs, whether it be in the medical department, strength and conditioning, analytical work or media communications.
If Foster, who joined the coaching staff in 2012, is elevated to the post of head coach after eight years as Hansen’s assistant, he may elect to make minimal changes. This would likely be welcomed by the players.
If everything is going well and they respect what the worker bees are achieving the players will be content; they will prefer to be surrounded by familiar faces and people they consider mates.
But if Foster is overlooked, it’s likely his replacement, as Henry did in 2004, will want to make sweeping changes.
There could be a revolving door at NZ Rugby in early 2020.
Already the All Blacks will be searching for a new captain to replace Kieran Read. Forwards coach Cron is yet to publicly declare his intentions, but with Hansen leaving he may want to call it a day. Shand, after 16 years, is another who could want a change.
During the recruitment process, the NZ Rugby interview panel will ask those short-listed for the vacant job who they will bring in as the assistants, and why.
The are also likely to dig deeper, to query if they intend in shaking up the management crew and if changes must be made, then to explain their reasoning.
Often new coaches bring across the people they have worked alongside elsewhere, men and women they can trust and, in many ways, are friends as much as colleagues.
The selection panel, regardless of whether or not Foster is successful, will have a fresh look in 2020. Hansen, Foster and Grant Fox are the current selectors.
If Foster is promoted to replace Hansen, he will have to find a replacement for his old boss on the selection panel. If Foster misses out, it won’t be his concern. He will surely move on.
A new coach will bring a fresh broom, big ideas and want to make a statement. His reputation will depend on it.