Hansen casts doubt on candidates and questions timing of appointment, but says All Blacks can still win RWC

World Cup-winning coach Steve Hansen has questioned the timing of New Zealand Rugby’s decision to appoint Scott Robertson as Ian Foster’s successor five months out from the World Cup.

The respected coach, who led the All Blacks at the last two World Cups and has featured in the past four campaigns, also cast doubt on whether there was more than one candidate in the running for the job.

Robertson, who has led the Crusaders to six straight Super Rugby titles since taking over from Todd Blackadder in 2017, was the obvious choice to take over from Foster next year.

But New Zealand Rugby’s handling of the situation has been questioned by many, with Foster’s three-year tenure questioned at every turn since being promoted as Hansen’s replacement.

Indeed, Foster’s appointment was questioned the moment he edged out Robertson in 2020.

It was viewed as a “job for the boys”, with Robertson, who had turned the Crusaders around, told he lacked international experience and had, by all reports, interviewed poorly.

But as Robertson’s Crusaders continued to win, Foster’s side have struggled with consistency.

While the All Blacks have managed to hold onto the Bledisloe Cup, a maiden defeat to Argentina in 2020 was followed by a disappointing end of season tour in 2021, where they suffered defeats to Ireland and France.

A historic series loss to Ireland last July then saw calls for Foster to be axed ramp up, before Robertson was lined up to replace the incumbent should the All Blacks lose twice in South Africa.

A magnificent victory at Ellis Park saw Foster backed in for the World Cup campaign, before stumbling again in Christchurch to Argentina.

It led the NZR to break tradition by announcing they would appoint Foster’s successor before the World Cup, something the incumbent spoke out against given the added distraction.

On Tuesday, the NZR, with Foster sleeping through the night in Paris, set in stone the world’s worst kept secret that Robertson would take over following the World Cup.

Hansen, who previously backed his former assistant to finish the job he started, said the appointment was no surprise but said he would not have made it until after the World Cup.

“Well, I think they got burned last time so they were worried about that. But what they didn’t take into account was everybody had their coaching sorted,” Hansen told Martin Devlin on The Platform.

“In my opinion, they would have been better to wait, but in their opinion they wanted to push the button and they’ve done that.

“They’re in charge of New Zealand Rugby, so it’s them that die and fall on these decisions, and just like coaches there’s got to be repercussions if it doesn’t work and, if it does work, well they’ve been super.”

He added: “It doesn’t come as a surprise because he’s been offered the job. And then Fozzie fought back and maintained it (last year). So he was obviously the prime candidate. I don’t know who else applied and they’re not telling us, so I think they’re leading us in the dark whether there was more than one candidate or not.”

Interestingly, Hansen did not think the news would change Foster’s headspace because of the ongoing saga over the past year.

“He won’t feel any more or any less than he has been for the last probably 12 months,” he said.

“But I think Fozzie has got himself into a headspace where he’s accepted that it’s happening. He’s tried to tell them that it’s not going to be conducive to the World Cup campaign, because there will be distractions, mainly for a lot of the staff. However, they’ve got their head around that and they’ll be working away.”

Hansen said it was important that Robertson leave Foster and the All Blacks alone until his time comes.

He did however add that when Robertson’s time comes, everybody, including the governing body and public, rally behind the new coach so that the mistakes of the past few years are not repeated.

“What matters now is, Razor, he talked about it yesterday, that he respects the current crew and lets them get on with their job and he stays out of it. If he does that, then they’ll be fine,” he said.

“I don’t want to get all twisted and turned up about (this). [New Zealand] Rugby Union’s made a decision, they’ve made Razor the coach. Let’s not do what happened last time when Fozzie got made coach and not get behind him. Let’s get behind him. It’s a hard enough job when you don’t have the support of half the people and half the media and in your own organization, and Razor’s got the luxury of everyone being in behind him at the moment. He’s just now got to sit back, let the World Cup happen and do a good job with the Crusaders. That’s where he’s got to put his energy and, I’m sure he will, when they push the go button after the World Cup then he’s away flying.”

Hansen said last year’s courageous win over the Springboks in their second Rugby Championship fixture was evidence that Foster’s All Blacks still had the ability to have success later in the year.

“It is tough, but they’re saying they are supporting him,” Hansen said.

“Look, I think Ian’s a strong enough man, strong enough coach, the whole environment in that All Black team have shown us; they were back to the wall stuff over in South Africa last year when they had to win the test just to keep going forward, and they managed to do that.

“I think that’s a mark of how strong this group can cope with the pressure. We’ve just got to let them get on with it, they’ll want to just be left alone out and get on with it. And if we do that, and we support them from afar, they’re more than capable of winning this World Cup.”