Hansen takes next wave out of the comfort zone

The good times never last. Not the way they have for the All Blacks in the past seven years.

Since 2009, when they sat on what now seems a nearly incomprehensible 50 per cent win ratio after eight tests, they have emerged into a golden age where the story has largely been: All Blacks play, All Blacks win.

The past seven years have been the economic equivalent of low taxes, low interest rates and high wages — love it while you can but don’t get used to it. It is not the norm.

What drove the All Blacks’ boom period between 2010 and 2015 was their vast experience. There were seasoned professionals across the board — Tony Woodcock, Keven Mealamu, Brad Thorn, Sam Whitelock, Jerome Kaino, Richie McCaw, Kieran Read, Daniel Carter, Ma’a Nonu, Conrad Smith and Cory Jane.

Individually and collectively, they went through hard times from 2003 to 2009. They didn’t arrive in test football with all the answers — they had to learn them.

By 2011, the All Blacks were the oldest side to win the World Cup — with an average age of almost 29 — and yet the All Blacks began the next World Cup cycle with mostly the same personnel, plus a few new caps such as Brodie Retallick, Aaron Smith and Julian Savea. The team evolved on the way to 2015 but, come the final, there were nine All Blacks in the match- day 23 who had been involved in the final four years earlier.

The golden generation couldn’t go for ever, though, and Woodcock, Mealamu, McCaw, Carter, Smith and Nonu all retired after the tournament, robbing the All Blacks of 800- plus test caps.

The mass exodus convinced opponents that the All Blacks would be vulnerable in 2016. How could they not be? And they should have been, except for two factors.

The first was that the All Blacks had long- predicted their potential vulnerability in 2016 and had prepared for it by giving Read experience captaining the side and elevating players such as Retallick, Sam Cane and Ben Smith to the leadership group.

The second factor was the very fact most of their opponents believed the All Blacks were vulnerable and perhaps prepared with less intensity than they should have.

The upshot was that the All Blacks went through the year looking more imposing than they really should have been.

They avoided the adversity they were expecting. Adversity that has arrived now.

It’s not that the All Blacks have fallen apart, more that they are now delivering performances that reflect their relative lack of experience, countered by improvements made by their opponents.

“You are always going to have a tough time as a squad in some period in your life,” says All Blacks coach Steve Hansen.

“Be it in the first year, second year, third year or last year of the cycle. It would appear this is the year we are having to find out about ourselves. “How are we preparing? “Are we doing it bone deep or are we just scratching the surface?

“We faced an opposition [ the Lions] at the beginning of the season who defensively were the best side we have played. It was four countries versus one . . . what we got in that series was a whole lot of different things this young group has to learn.

“We have got a young skipper. He has played 100 test matches but he’s getting challenged, which is great for him. The leadership group is being challenged and then throw on top of that all the injuries we have had and it has been what I would call an awkward season.”

It’s also what Hansen believes will be the making of his side.

Far from being concerned about performances to date or what lies ahead, the All Blacks coach i s adamant this is a journey his young men had to make.

They can’t reach their destination of being an effective triple- threat attacking side if they don’t have exposure to pressure and tight spots.

“In 2016 we hit the road running and we had a group of men who had been primed to hit the road running and they really jumped at the opportunity,” says Hansen.

“In 2017, the game has changed subtly. This group is in its infancy. It is another two- and- a- half years before we get to that point [ World Cup]. If we keep growing and learning as I would like us to, then we will be a far, far stronger side than we are at the moment.

“The key to being successful is to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. And we are working our way through that. Getting injuries makes you uncomfortable. Drawing a test series makes the All Blacks feel uncomfortable because it feels like we lost it.

“Not playing for 80 minutes makes you feel uncomfortable. Making errors you normally wouldn’t make but because we have been put under pressure because of good defensive systems makes you uncomfortable. Not doing some stuff you normally would do because you are trying to grow something else makes you uncomfortable.”

Hansen is just as keen to make the point that while the All Blacks are enduring a tougher ride this year than last — or at any other time in the last seven years — they are coming through it reasonably well.

They have scored 19 tries in three Rugby Championship tests, scored a record number of points in Australia and showed character to fight back to retain the Bledisloe Cup.

The picture i s not bleak and comparison with the side that won the 2015 World Cup is an oranges to apples job.

“I think you are kidding yourself if you think there were no poor games in that four years [ 2012- 2015],” Hansen said. “The All Blacks lost games in that period. We played some great rugby but at times we also had tough moments. The big difference was that we had those 800 test caps.

“You had Richie McCaw, Conrad Smith and Ma’a Nonu who had been around. They were really at the end of their cycle and that is the point I am trying to make. This group is at the beginning of their cycle. Dan Carter versus Beauden Barrett. Barrett has played one season at first five- eighths for the All Blacks. Dan Carter was coming to the end of his career.

“I could name a whole lot of people like that. Ryan Crotty versus Conrad. Alby [ Anton Lienert- Brown] versus Ma’a they are just at a different stage and because of that you are seeing different things.

“It doesn’t mean they aren’t a good team or that they are not going to get better. Yeah, it is a bit tough at the moment but give some credit to the opposition. Every time we play somebody, they get up.

“I believe we are going in the right direction, we have a work ethic and we have a good plan. We just have to be patient.”