Rivals meet again
‘‘Don’t go there,’’ barked Stave Hansen. ‘‘Just don’t go there.’’
But of course we will. We have to. The Hansen v Warren Gatland Kiwi head coaching matchup is, after all, the compelling narrative of this final week of the All Blacks’ end-of-year tour.
The two chief protagonists from this year’s dramatic series between the All Blacks and British and Irish Lions will meet one final time for 2017, albeit in a different guise. And there’s just a bit on it.
This time Gatland is back in charge of the Wales national team he has coached since 2008, and with whom he has an 0-10 record against the All Blacks – five of those whiffs since Hansen has been in charge.
And the rivalry has been ramped up to the nth degree this week by incendiary comments from Gatland in his just-released Lions tour diary, In the Line of Fire: The Inside Story from the Lions Head Coach. It’s not a particularly riveting or revealing tome, but one part will have made the powerbrokers at New Zealand Rugby sit up and take notice.
In the book, Gatland, himself an All Black back in the day (though he never played a test), makes a clear threat that he possesses ‘‘explosive’’ details about the backto-back world champions.
By inference, it is damaging information.
‘‘I have heard of some things about the All Blacks that could be quite explosive if they were made public, and if it does get dirty then I will raise a couple of those things. At the moment I’m just keeping my counsel,’’ Gatland wrote.
He also hints at something untoward in the New Zealand setup when he writes: ‘‘It’s the first time I’ve felt there’s been an orchestrated campaign to unsettle me, and to split the squad.’’
That was right above a reference to a New Zealand reporter having intimate knowledge of Hansen’s squad that you couldn’t obtain ‘‘unless you’re talking directly to someone in the All Blacks set-up’’.
Hansen, at his Sunday media briefing in Edinburgh, was asked twice about Gatland’s comments in the book, and repeated his ‘‘I’ve got nothing to say on that’’ line he gave to Stuff before the Scotland test.
Clearly it has irritated him, but equally clearly he is not about to start a war of words with his, at times bitter, rival at this stage of the year.
Asked whether the presence of the Lions coach in this final test week ramped up the occasion, Hansen said: ‘‘It’s got nothing to do with it. Don’t go there.’’ His look shut the question line off at the pass.
Then he was asked directly about Gatland’s comments in the book.
‘‘You know I don’t want to go there, so there’s no point in asking because I’m not going there,’’ he replied.
After the 22-17 victory over Scotland at Murrayfield, Hansen had also been asked whether he was looking forward to crossing swords with Gatland again after the controversial 1-1 series between the All Blacks and Lions in New Zealand in June and July.
The All Blacks, of course, were denied a shot at the series victory by a mystifying change of a late penalty decision at Eden Park that has never been properly explained to the New Zealand camp.
‘‘You media guys get all excited about that ... but it’s not about anyone pitting swords against someone else, it’s about a team versus a team,’’ said Hansen. ‘‘Are we looking forward to going to Wales and playing Wales? We are.’’
Hansen did make one indirect reference to his coaching rival when he spoke about what he’d gleaned from their November outings.
‘‘Like everybody they’re starting to try play some football. He’s gone away from what he normally does, going around the corner, to trying to use his forwards in a different way, holding some of them on the short side, and trying to use the ball more.
‘‘It seems a positive thing for rugby. Everyone wants to play, and it’s good for the game.’’
Almost as good as a couple of coaches who don’t specially care for each other going at it one more time. Bring it on.