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Steve Hansen says his long-term future could could include another stint in Wales. The Cantabrian took over as Wales' ninth coach in 13 seasons after predecessor and current All Blacks head coach Graham Henry resigned in 2002.
Under Hansen's tenure, Wales endured a miserable 2003 domestic campaign, losing every Six Nations game for the first time in their rugby history.
Under mounting pressure, they defied their critics to reach that year's World Cup quarter-finals.
The Welsh were almost unrecognisable from their woeful Six Nations performances, giving the All Blacks a scare in their final pool match and nearly turning the tables on eventual World Cup winners England in the quarter-finals before exiting the tournament.
Hansen stepped down in 2004 to assume his current role alongside Henry but hinted that a return to Wales was a possibility.
"There are always rumours about these kinds of things and at this stage I am contracted to New Zealand but, yes, one day in the future, it [returning to Wales] could happen," he said.
"I had a great time with Wales. It probably took the Welsh public a wee while to see what we were trying to do but from day one, the players got behind it and we ended up with a pretty handy side.
"The greatest thing we achieved was getting a good bunch of athletes to understand what professionalism was and how to play an 80-minute game of rugby.
"It won't be now but one day I could go back."
Hansen is also spoken of as the likeliest successor to Henry if, as expected, he departs the All Black scene after this World Cup. So any return to Wales could be some years off yet.
Hansen's prospects of returning to the Valleys have been endorsed by former Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) chief executive David Moffett.
Christchurch-based Moffett, who helped resolve the WRU's financial turmoil by rescheduling loan repayments on the £126 million ($326 million) Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, paid tribute to Hansen for the pivotal role he played instilling professionalism into Welsh rugby.
"Steve Hansen probably did more than anyone else to drag Welsh rugby into the professional era," Moffett said.
"They went on win the Six Nations for the first time in 27 years in 2005 but people in Wales still live off the Welsh team's success in the 1970s without realising that it might never happen again.
"Wales don't have the depth of New Zealand so it's unrealistic to expect them to be the best team in the world."
