All Blacks stick with Hansen after cup

All Black coach Steve Hansen walking into the dressing room. Photo / Getty Images

Steve Hansen, the first All Blacks coach to be appointed beyond a World Cup, hopes he has set a trend.

Speaking after his reappointment in Wellington yesterday as coach until after the Lions tour of New Zealand in 2017, Hansen, who has a 90 per cent winning record during his three years in charge, believes his appointment is a recipe for success.

"I do have an opinion that the coaching of the All Blacks should fit two years before and two years after the World Cup," he said before joking that he might get a smack around the ears from New Zealand Rugby chief executive Steve Tew and chairman Brent Impey, sitting alongside him, for suggesting as much.

"I think while the Rugby World Cup is a massive tournament and something we all want to win, the All Blacks are expected to win all the time and every test is important. If we can make it easier for that group, and I'm not just talking about the head coach, I'm talking about everyone that comes with the head coach, then maybe it might be the recipe to win more of them, I'm not sure.

"So when 2017 comes we'll sit down and assess on the same criteria, is it right for the team, is it right for my family and do they still want me from an NZRU point of view."

His comments suggest he hasn't ruled out another term beyond 2017, ahead of the 2019 World Cup to be held in Japan. Graham Henry's eight years in charge as All Blacks head coach - after he and then-assistant Hansen survived the 2007 quarter-final loss to France - is the longest reign in modern times.

Hansen's appointment, effectively ratified by the NZRU board in October, and confirmed by the board recently, was a victory for common sense and continuity.

Next year's World Cup, which starts in September, clearly looms as a massive challenge, but so too does 2016, when Hansen is likely to be without a whole host of experienced players, including Dan Carter, Richie McCaw and Ma'a Nonu.

Allowing him to continue the work he has done since taking over as head coach from Henry in 2011 should help with that, the only concern for Tew is the fact that other New Zealand coaches could become disillusioned.

Tew said: "There are a lot of people out there who will aspire to be the All Black coach and we hope that this is not a disincentive for that aspiration because we want those people to be working very hard so they're in great nick when we are ready to go contestable, which may well be in 2017, we'll have to wait and see how that transpires."

The other pressing appointments for the NZRU are the confirmation of Hansen's assistants - the 55-year-old said he hoped Ian Foster, Mick Byrne and Mike Cron would decide to extend their own contracts.

Hansen said he would allow them to decide over the summer.