GATLAND AIMING TO LIFT ALL BLACKS CURSE
Old foes Gatland and Hansen face off again
C ARDIFF is becoming used to hosting heavyweight battles. A month after Anthony Joshua and Carlos Takam stepped into the ring at the Principality Stadium the iconic arena sees another mammoth contest.
Warren Gatland and Steve Hansen will not actually trade blows tonight when Wales face the All Blacks, but after they shared the pot in this year’s Lions series, many see this as a decider.
Before the fourth Test in five months between the two coaches there has been less verbal sparring than in New Zealand. The barbs have been replaced by mutual admiration.
What makes the rivalry between these Kiwi prizefighters more intriguing is their similarity.
‘ One’s a schoolteacher ( Gatland) and one’s a cop (Hansen). Kiwi blokes are pretty damn similar — we like rugby, racing and beer!’ Ian Jones, the former All Black lock who played with and was coached by Gatland, told Sportsmail.
‘They instil a huge amount of confidence and belief in a team — that comes from their Kiwi background,’ said Tom Shanklin, who played under both for Wales.
‘They are strict and both very blunt — no mincing words.’ Hansen endured a horrible run when he led Wales, slumping to 10 consecutive defeats between 2002 and 2003, yet players from that era enjoyed working with him.
‘Steve is an unbelievable rugby coach,’ said Dwayne Peel, who made his first Test start under Hansen. ‘He was a disciplinarian but off the pitch he drove the way he thought we should behave. I can’t speak too highly of him.’
And former centre Shanklin revealed that behind the steely glare Hansen has a sensitive side. ‘I always remember 2004. I had scored two tries against Ireland and then came in as a late replacement to start against England. For the Italy game he told me I was on the bench but would feature in the game. He said, “You have got a great ticker (heart), we really think you are valuable.”
‘He was so good — you went away from your one-on-ones with him in a positive frame of mind.’
If Hansen is sensitive with his players, Gatland seems more sensitive to criticism. He certainly made clear his annoyance with the Kiwi media after the bashing he received on the Lions tour.
‘Warren wears his heart on his sleeve and that’s a damn good thing,’ said Jones. ‘He’s a tough old rooster — I am sure in time he will brush that (criticism) off. When he sits in his beach house in Waihi on the balcony that he tends not to move from during our summers he may have a little chuckle about it.’
Gatland will sit all the more comfortably there in 2019 if he has broken the curse New Zealand have over Wales.
The 29-match winless run is so long that only one Welshman survives from their last victory 64 years ago — Courtenay Meredith, the 91-year- old former Neath prop and 1955 Lions tourist.
Another who played in that 13-8 Welsh win was one George Nelson Dalzell, grandfather of today’s All Blacks captain, Sam Whitelock. Dalzell had so much shrapnel in his leg following the Second World War that doctors wanted to amputate. Dalzell refused and played the rest of his career with wood taped over the injury.
For many Welshmen, Whitelock’s presence and link to 1953 is an omen. Still, that link brought Wales no luck in 2010, 2012, 2014 or twice in 2016, when the second row played and beat them.
When the bell rings today on another bout between Gatland and Hansen, Wales will be going toe to toe with the world champions — and with history.