All Blacks dejected after 2023 Rugby World Cup final defeat and former head coach Sir Steve Hansen.
All Blacks legend Sir Steve Hansen was not overly effusive with his praise for Scott Robertson after insisting that he had a good platform to work with.
A good friend of previous boss Ian Foster, the 2015 Rugby World Cup-winning head coach felt that they were “robbed” in the 2023 showpiece event.
Hansen did not list specific incidents but the 65-year-old has previously been critical of the red card handed out to captain Sam Cane in the first half.
Despite the All Blacks’ struggles between 2020 and 2023, they came so close to lifting the Webb Ellis Cup and Hansen felt that they were in a good position as the baton handed over to Robertson.
Particularly in the front-row, the new head coach has had a strong platform to work from according to Hansen.
“I wouldn’t say we’ve made great strides [up front], I still think we’re going as well as we were. This is a team that should have won the World Cup, they were robbed of the World Cup as far as I’m concerned with some poor decisions that were out of their control which cost them a World Cup,” he told DSPN with Martin Devlin.
“They’re a very, very competitive side, they’ve got some very good rugby players. In the front-row and the prop stocks they’ve got at the moment, I’d have them in 2019; they’re good, young men and playing really well.
“There are a couple of new boys that have arrived on the scene and they look promising players, so there’s plenty of depth in that team.”
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Hansen has previously stated that he felt Foster was treated abysmally by New Zealand Rugby, with Robertson’s appointment confirmed well ahead of the 2023 World Cup.
Thanks to the All Blacks’ performance at the global tournament, he went some way to proving a lot of people wrong, who wanted Robertson as their head coach in 2019.
The Crusaders legend eventually got his chance four years later but it has been a mixed start as New Zealand ended the 2024 campaign with 10 victories and four defeats.
Hansen was asked about how they go about improving in 2025 and he responded: “I think it starts with the people running it, I think they’ve worked out this job wasn’t as easy as they thought it was going to be.
“They’ve had some good lessons, and they’ve openly said that which is great because they’re acknowledging they have to learn. As they learn, the team will learn.”
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