Hansen – the greatest All Blacks coach – criticized New Zealand Rugby’s performance in a number of areas, in an interview with Today FM’s Tova O’Brien.
Hansen gave his views on a range of rugby issues.
On the topic currently dominating rugby headlines, Hansen believes Crusaders coach Scott Robertson is fully capable of joining the All Blacks without gaining overseas experience first.
All Black rejection Robertson sent shockwaves into the game this week, saying he was ready to coach a rival Test country.
“Razor just positions itself and is good for him,” said Hansen, who started as a test coach by following Sir Graham Henry’s path to Wales.
“I think Scott Robertson is a great coach and his time will come. Then we’ll see if he’s ready or not.
“The difference between Super Rugby and International Rugby is huge. He has a great track record and can coach.
“I don’t think it matters (coaching abroad first) as long as you’re flexible in your thinking and develop your rugby spirit while you’re at it. You can do it here in New Zealand or abroad.
“For me, the route was overseas and it gave me the opportunity to go through adversity. I think all good coaches go through adversity at some point in their career, and we see that with Ian Foster.”
Hansen said the under-fired Foster, his former assistant, was a “very good coach”.
“He won’t be happy with how things have gone lately, but I don’t think the problem is just within the team. There are bigger problems than that,” said Hansen.
The wider issues include a drop in New Zealand’s standards at the under-20 level and a rift between the administration and All Blacks.
“The relationship between the board and the executive with the players right now is probably the worst it’s ever been,” he said.
“The Way They Handled the New” [Silver Lake] money arrangement… [former chairman] Brent Impey came out and absolutely rostered the players, without consultation.
“I don’t think they (NZR) are doing their job right at the moment.
“You’ve got a group of great All Black captains coming out and forming a group that going to talk to them… Kirky (All Black’s great Ian Kirkpatrick) was in the paper and said they felt like there wasn’t anything going for them. was listened to.
“Let’s start there, to get that right.
“If you look back at the time when we were really successful from about 2010 to 2019, which was our most successful era, the rugby union board and director are humming.
“There was complete togetherness and connection with the actual All Black team.”
He said England and France had dominated the past Under-20 World Cups, making it difficult to find the quality players needed for the All Blacks.
“Our high-performance department has to meander over our record at the under-20 level,” he said.
‘Do we understand that side of our business well? I do not think so.’
The World Cup winner suggested that assessments conducted by NZR Foster and former Black Ferns coach Glenn Moore had not adequately protected.
Actions like that would lead to high staff turnover, he said.
“There have been a lot of reviews lately – when did NZR do a self-assessment?” he added.
But he believed current CEO Mark Robinson could handle the job.
“He’s just in the job… the period we’re going through with Covid, no one else has had to.
“There’s a new head coach, a new CEO…why did the rugby union (former CEO) let Steve Tew go, or force him to go, at the same time as I ended up in 2019.
“We had two relatively inexperienced people piloting the ship. I can’t believe that. Mark Robinson will be a good CEO.”
He also criticized some social media and press reaction to Foster describing it as “cruel, mean, malicious, hateful, mean, real bullying”.
“We talk about mental health, but we don’t show too much of it,” he said.
“I like journalists. They are the channel. The problem is how they do it.
“They may have been cheated by the NZR, but not by Ian Foster. Why don’t they turn their attention to the NZR?’