Hansen lauds progress of Schmidtled Irish
WELLINGTON: All Blacks coach Steve Hansen has hailed the impact of Ireland counterpart
Joe Schmidt, who threatens to lower his colours tomorrow and eventually even take his job.
In what shapes as the most meaningful test of 2018, the backtoback world champions face the secondranked Irish in Dublin.
Hansen raised the stakes for both teams, effectively describing the match as one to determine World Cup bragging rights less than a year from the global tournament.
‘‘It is one and two, so whoever wins will be the best side in the world regardless of rankings,’’ he said.
The biggest Irish weapon, Hansen insisted, is fellowKiwi coach Schmidt, who former All Blacks captain Richie McCaw this week anointed as the best candidate to replace Hansen, potentially as soon as 2020.
While Schmidt’s intentions are unclear, Hansen said the 53yearold’s tenure in Ireland had been nothing short of triumphant, given it was ranked eighth in the world when he took charge in 2013.
Ireland won three Six Nations crowns, including last year’s clean sweep, and in 2016 created history by orchestrating Ireland’s first win over New Zealand, in Chicago.
‘‘You’ve got to admire all of that — it’s winning and they’ll punish you,’’ Hansen said.
‘‘They’ll find a weakness. He’s pretty good, Joe, at finding a trick or two so we’ll be expecting one or two coming our way on Saturday.’’
Hansen admitted his team was enduring a ‘‘scrappy’’ second half of 2018, having emerged 11 from two freewheeling tests against South Africa.
It was nearly sunk by a muscular performance by England in the wet at Twickenham last week before clinging on for a 1615 win.
Ireland were rusty in a 2817 arm wrestle against Argentina, which was the 16th win in their past 17 tests.
Hansen said the men in green had found different ways to overcome opponents, which made them difficult to plan for.
‘‘They’re probably the team in world rugby that hang on to the ball the most,’’ he said.
‘‘But when they don’t get what they want with that they’ll take to the air and they’ve got a good kicking game.
‘‘Sometimes it’s a real battle. ‘‘This time of year particularly, we’re coming to the end of our season and we’ve got to find ways to get energised and play with real purpose.’’ — AAP