World Cup form key to Gats’ All Blacks bid?

WARREN Gatland is on the shortlist to coach New Zealand when Steve Hansen steps down but will have to force his way ahead of favourite Ian Foster.

Former Wales boss Hansen has announced he will leave his position following next year’s World Cup in Japan.

The All Blacks have won an astonishing 85 of their 96 Tests, losing just eight and drawing three, since Hansen became head coach after being assistant to Graham Henry when they lifted the 2011 World Cup.

The 59-year-old masterminded the All Blacks becoming the first nation to retain rugby’s biggest prize.

New Zealand Rugby Union chief executive Steve Tew revealed they would not decide on the next All Blacks coach until after the World Cup. He said: “We’ll go to the market after RWC. We’ve got little bit of time. We’d like to have a new coaching structure in place before Christmas of 2019.”

Tew, in a previous interview, identified Hansen’s assistant Foster, Gatland, Ireland boss Joe Schmidt and former Scotland coach Vern Cotter, who is now with Montpellier, among the contenders.

Gatland’s contract with Wales runs out after the tournament. He plans on returning home after it and was eyeing a job with one New Zealand’s Super Rugby franchises after taking a few months off.

His standing went up following the Lions’ drawn Test series with the All Blacks last year after they had been written off beforehand by the Kiwi media and public.

If Wales were to lift the World Cup or challenge for it, his dream of coaching New Zealand could materialise. For where the All Blacks, Wales and Ireland finish could determine Hansen’s successor with Foster a clear favourite if the Kiwis make it three in a row.

“The thing about New Zealand is you have to be in the right place at the right time because there’s not a lot of coaching positions,” Gatland said last year. “That’s the way I look at it. I promise you there’s not a strategy in place of me coming back to New Zealand and wanting to coach the All Blacks.”