Poker face Hansen is playing his cards badly
I’m a fan of Steve Hansen. In fact I’m a fan of anybody who coaches at this level, and Steve has been an integral part of two World Cup wins with New Zealand. But the all Blacks coach is really under pressure this week.
Just as last week was Warren Gatland’s toughest as a coach, this is the biggest test of Hansen’s career. Rarely does an all Blacks coach have his back against the wall at home, but Hansen has it all to do.
Prior to their defeat in the second Test, New Zealand had not lost at home since 2009 and they haven’t lost two matches in a row in New Zealand since 1998. They have not been beaten at Eden Park — the venue for Saturday’s decider — since 1994.
So this week we will find out a great deal about Hansen. There are those — but I’m not one of them — who believe any properly qualified coach could make a decent fist of taking charge of New Zealand when you have some of the world’s best players and a brilliant set-up. If only it was so simple!
You do start with many advantages but there is no more pressurised job in sport. Lose once and it sparks a national identity crisis as well as the rugby inquest. That is a heavy load of pressure.
Others point out that Hansen was not so impressive as Wales boss 14 years ago, when he lost every game of the 2003 Six Nations. That was part of a record 11 defeats in a row under Hansen.
That was very early in his international coaching career and I know myself that sometimes you need to experience lows and put in the hard yards before you hit your stride as a coach. I was England coach when Hansen was going through a challenging time with Wales. I saw him under real pressure but he learnt a lot, handled it all well and somehow, after well- received performances against New Zealand and England in the 2003 World Cup, came out the other end with his reputation enhanced.
Despite all that, it is legitimate to examine how he is going about his work. Can he call on his experience to see him through the week? a few cracks started to appear in the heat of battle in Wellington last week when he made two calls which I would not have made and which may have cost New Zealand the game.
I cannot understand why, when Sonny Bill Williams was sent off, Hansen decided to take off powerhouse flanker Jerome Kaino and replace him with rookie centre Ngani Laumape.
It was clearly a pre-planned move — all teams have plans to cope with such scenarios — but I’m still baffled.
New Zealand needed to make no changes. I would also question whether the rest of the New Zealand team or fans wanted to see such a totemic player as Kaino walking over to the bench and putting his tracksuit on. It felt like two for the price of one for the Lions!
The swapping of a back for a forward made no sense, and spoke of an overly rigid game plan of attacking the 10-12 channel where I suspect the all Blacks felt inroads could be made against Johnny Sexton and Owen Farrell.
Then there was the substitution of aaron Smith midway through the second half. many friends and commentators from New Zealand tell me there is nothing to choose between Smith and TJ Perenara. Sorry, I have to
disagree. Smith is world class and was running the show in Wellington. Perenara is a good Test scrum-half but as yet no more than that.
New Zealand badly needed 80 minutes out of Smith and I didn’t detect any fatigue in his play. It might have been coincidence but the moment he came off the momentum began to swing back towards the Lions and I also felt Conor murray was more comfortable against a lesser opponent and started to blossom.
There are other little things I have clocked over the last few weeks about Hansen. The war of words which kicked off before the first Test was not like him. He doesn’t mind engaging in verbals if provoked but I don’t remember him ever starting a slanging match, which suggested he was unusually nervous.
HE’S normally a great poker player who doesn’t display his emotions. The coach sets the tone and the players feed off this, but attacking the opposing coach helped the Lions hugely.
I noticed last week he was quick to close the verbals down and disown the ridiculous clown cartoon which was printed of Gatland, but it was too late. The damage was done and the Lions were fired up.
I still sense he is edgy and I was very surprised that he called malakai Fekitoa into the squad to provide cover at centre this week. New Zealand, a land crammed with all-round footballing backs, suddenly seem obsessed with ballcarrying centres. I am not sure how good their distribution skills are when comparing them with Farrell, for example.
as the Lions start cranking up their forward effort, New Zealand need a second ball-player like Farrell. at present, New Zealand are leaving most of the playmaking to Beauden Barrett and as good a player as Barrett is, it makes defending that little bit easier for the Lions.
I await the all Blacks team announcement with interest but make no bones about it, there has been a momentum shift. There is only one team and one coach under pressure, and they are the men in black. This week will be fascinating on and off the pitch.