DON’T MAKE ME LAUGH
All Blacks coach brushes off ‘weak’ claims
STEVE HANSEN laughed off the notion the All Blacks are weakest up front after his forwards battered the Lions into submission.
New Zealand won the opening game of the three-Test series at Eden Park with a powerful showing, making a mockery of the stereotype that they can only play an allcourt style.
He did find it within himself, though, to describe the Lions as ‘magnificent’ and heralded the end-to-end first-half try finished off by Ireland’s Sean O’Brien as one of the greatest he had ever seen.
It was quite the compliment, given the All Blacks have run them in by the busload during his long stint at the helm.
But its delivery was sugarcoated. A subtle dig at the vanquished Warren Gatland and the handbrake nature of