It’s summer, so let’s talk rugby
Now Steve Hansen has confirmed he will stop coaching the All Blacks after the 2019 World Cup, should NZ Rugby create a new job for him within the organisation or cut him loose?
Richard Knowler: I don’t like the idea of a former coach having a fulltime job, staring over the shoulder of his replacement. Let the newcomer run his own ship. Maybe Hansen could be contracted part-time, allowing him to use his knowledge as a mentor for Super Rugby and Mitre 10 Cup coaches.
Hamish Bidwell: Cut him loose isn’t the right term, but he’s done his time and his presence would only undermine a successor. I don’t imagine any credible coaching aspirant, other than Ian Foster, would wear Hansen having any involvement. If Hansen hangs around, I fear Foster is the man we’ll get. In the interests of getting the best person for the job, NZ Rugby needs to offer a Hansen-free environment.
You can bet the Crusaders aren’t terribly stoked about having Sam Whitelock, Kieran Read, and probably Codie Taylor, taking extra leave to help keep them fresh for the World Cup. Should the Crusaders be miffed, or just cop this sweet?
RK: They can hardly be dancing a jig about it can they? Captain Whitelock will definitely miss the first four games, three of which are local derbies and a couple more later in the season. Read will do something similar.
Obviously the All Blacks need these players to be fresh for the World Cup, but it’s also important to note the Rugby Championship fixture list has been halved. And, still, the Crusaders have been told they have to rest their key players. It could cost them vital competition points and, potentially, their defence of the Super Rugby title.
HB: Miffed? They’ll be ecstatic, just as four of the teams were this year. It was only that malcontent Chris Boyd at the Hurricanes who said different. Look where he is now. Let them skip the whole competition if it suits the All Blacks’ purposes.
Should any All Blacks from other teams be forced to take a rest outside of the two- game window already created?
RK: Get off. The less intervention the better, full stop.
HB: Owen Franks, Brodie Retallick, Beauden Barrett, Ben Smith, Aaron Smith. Natural attrition and/or head knocks will probably mean Sonny Bill Williams and Ryan Crotty get a spell too. Ardie Savea? You could go on and on. I reckon they’d have 20 blokes sit half the season out if they could.
Ardie Savea spurns a French club contract and announces he will stay in New Zealand for a few more seasons beyond 2019. Savea, remember, had previously made the decision to extend his contract with NZ Rugby for just one-year because he wanted to keep his options open after the World Cup. Cheeky or good business sense?
RK: Assuming he re-signed for some decent wedge with NZ Rugby, he should have done all right for himself. It’s every man for himself in professional sport. Good business sense.
HB: It’s worked out superbly. I mean what a bargaining position he found himself in. With Sam Cane injured, and an alternative offer on the table, Savea must have received a pretty significant upgrade. Well done Ardie. Just on Cane, necks aren’t something you muck around with and I hope he’s getting good advice about his future. He got engaged earlier this year, from memory, and is a capable, articulate, good-looking guy with his whole life ahead of him. Playing rugby isn’t the be-all and end-all.
Who do you think will win the World Cup final in Yokohama next year?
RK: I like the look of South Africa, to be honest. If new coach Rassie Erasmus can improve the Boks, as he did in his first season, it seems likely he can squeeze more juice out of them in 2019. And finals football could suit their smash-and-grind game.
HB: New Zealand. Ireland have never fired at a World Cup, folding under the burden of any expectation. Eddie Jones and England will combust between now and then and South Africa are one-off merchants, who could pants the All Blacks in roundrobin, and then lose to a bunch of nobodies in a quarterfinal.
What was the most memorable rugby story for you in 2018?
RK: The one that never happened. Speculation that Warriors captain Roger TuivasaSheck had signed with NZ Rugby to play for the All Blacks made for some seriously good clickbait.
It seemed to too wacky to be true, and proved just that. We should be thankful. He seems a decent fellow and is a gun leaguie. It would have been a shame if he ended-up doing a Benji Marshall in the 15-man code.
HB: Wow, you’ve really caught me on the hop there. Steve Hansen’s news last week was obviously pretty significant and the All Blacks’ 36-34 defeat to South Africa felt like a big deal at the time. I think there’s some legs in the Kieran Read situation. From leading the haka against Italy, to being very prominent in last week’s rugby awards broadcast, there’s a concerted effort to show he’s the leader of our game and indispensable to the All Blacks. Sonny Bill Williams’ continued fitness problems, but firstchoice selection status, is more of a saga than a story but, if I had to pick a bloke who generated clicks all year, then it would be him.