Rugby: All Blacks coach Steve Hansen calls Michael Cheika 'Mickey Mouse' at fundraiser in Wellington

Steve Hansen has slammed Michael Cheika for being "too emotional," calling the Wallabies coach "Mickey Mouse".

Stuff reported that Hansen made the comment about his Australian counterpart at a Circa Theatre fundraiser on Monday night when being interviewed by former television presenter Ian Fraser.

Following Fraser's mention of former Wallabies player Mark Ella's jibe that "Mickey Mouse could coach the All Blacks to victory", due to New Zealand's quantity of quality players, Hansen couldn't help but hit back.

"They've got Mickey Mouse coaching Aussie," Hansen said, according to Stuff.

"Michael Cheika, who by the way isn't a bad bloke, he just gets a bit emotional, and as you well know we thought we'd get him emotional and take his mind off the job.

"I guess what we're trying to do there is take his mind off the job and while I say he's not a bad bloke, he's got to control his emotions. I think he's got a good side, he does a good job of the coaching, but sometimes he just lets himself down there."

Hansen, who announced late last year that he would be stepping down as All Blacks coach after this year's World Cup in Japan, also revealed that he enjoys the psychological warfare that comes with the job - and that he tries to get under the skin of his opponents.

Steve Hansen 'backed off' Warren Gatland after the Herald's clown cartoon in 2017. Photo / Herald

Hansen admitted playing mind games with coach Warren Gatland during the British and Irish Lions' tour to New Zealand in 2017.

"We probably had him [Gatland] where we needed him and then the bloody Herald made a picture of him as a clown, which I didn't think was right, so I had to back off," Hansen said.

Hansen said, though, that his approach was different with England head coach Eddie Jones and Kiwi-born Ireland coach Joe Schmidt, who was the early favourite to replace him as All Blacks coach following the Rugby World Cup.

Steve Hansens says he's good mates with Ireland coach Joe Schmidt. Photo / Getty

"He [Eddie] likes to be praised so we praise him ... at the end of the day, I enjoy Eddie a lot because he's passionate about the game.

"[Schmidt] is a good coach and he is a mate. We've done a lot of coaching against each other here in New Zealand and at one stage we nearly coached Auckland together with Graham [Henry]."

Schmidt recently told the Herald about his decision to step away from rugby after the World Cup, ruling himself out of not only the All Blacks head coach role, but also the prospect of guiding the British and Irish Lions on their tour of South Africa in 2021.