By Greg Stutchbury
AUCKLAND, June 10 (Reuters) – Nursing a cup of coffee and
looking like a man who had not had much sleep after conducting
two post-match analyses, Steve Hansen woke to the first day of a
new era in All Blacks rugby on Sunday.
At Eden Park on Saturday, his team had dispatched Ireland
42-10 in the first of three tests, with debutant winger Julian
Savea scoring a hat-trick of tries as the experienced spine of
the team gave the big Wellingtonian plenty of space to exploit.
Hansen, who stepped into the job after eight years as Graham
Henry’s assistant, was keen to reiterate it was a good first
step as he built a team capable of defending the Webb Ellis
trophy in 2015.
“What we were looking for was really good attitude and
trying to establish some patterns we had been working on,”
Hansen told reporters at the team hotel of the first test win.
“You also expect your team to take a bit of a while to
gel… and they gelled pretty quickly to be fair.
“So I’m very happy.”
Much had been made of the need to leave last year’s World
Cup triumph in the past as the All Blacks focus on staying at
the summit of world rugby, something not easily achieved by
previous champions the year after lifting the game’s ultimate
prize.
Hansen had said after the match on Saturday he had been
pleased with the way his experienced players took on that
responsibility, though the 8-7 victory over France to win the
World Cup last October had alleviated a lot of pressure.
Continued…
