Rugby: Hansen linked to Highlanders

Steve Hansen could bring his coaching experience to the Highlanders. Photo / Getty Images

It would not be a World Cup year without a radical experiment and once again the Super 15 franchises look set to be the personal playthings of the All Black panel.

In 2007, it was the maligned rest and rehabilitation programme that saw the Super 14 emasculated with the withdrawal of leading All Blacks; this time it looks as if the New Zealand Rugby Union is smoothing the way for the coaches to be embedded into at least two franchises.

Graham Henry yesterday used kerosene to put out a fire of speculation, first aired on Otago radio this week, that Steve Hansen would become coach of the Highlanders.

When asked if one of his assistants could become a Super 15 head coach, he said: "I think there's some foundation to that speculation ... that has been discussed, but that decision has not been made. I don't want to say it is not going to happen and I don't want to say it is, because I don't know."

While Henry was happy to admit the situation had been discussed, Highlanders chairman Ross Laidlaw was not, saying it had not been talked about at board level and that the NZRU had made no approach.

Asked whether he would be amenable to the idea, he said: "I don't know. I can't make a judgment until I know who the coaches are going to be."

The Highlanders are a basket-case franchise and would no doubt benefit from a man of Hansen's pedigree, but it is questionable whether it is wise for the NZRU to narrow the country's coaching base, especially when there are compelling candidates like Wellington and Maori coach Jamie Joseph who are capable of stepping up a level.

It is not the first time this issue has cropped up. In 2008, Steve Hansen applied to take over the reins at the Crusaders when Robbie Deans left.

The NZRU rejected his candidature in the belief it was better to concentrate on one job and it is difficult to see what has changed except the timing.

Henry made it clear he believed the gap between the end-of-year tour and a truncated 2011 Tri Nations was too long: "It's a franchise decision at the end of the day plus the New Zealand Rugby Union. We've got to make sure we do our best with that because there's eight months where we don't have any contact with the players, in a coaching sense. That's a hell of a long time leading into a World Cup.

"We get them for four test matches to play then a Rugby World Cup. We might have five or six weeks prior to a World Cup and eight months before that with no contact. Just getting that right is going to be pretty crucial."

His concerns echo those of 2005, when he admitted to feeling under-cooked as a coach for the Lions tour.

"It has been a long time since our last test against France," Henry said at the time. "Is it too long a wait? It is a concern because I feel it takes me three or four weeks to get back into the feeling of being totally comfortable with the job again."

There is a chance the All Blacks will simply have a greater week-to-week role traversing the franchises, rather than have formal positions.

"The big thing is we have to have the ability to talk to the players and keep them up to date with trends and keep our relationship going, for want of a better term. We're sharing ideas and helping them develop their games as individuals and hopefully that will help the franchise."

* The All Blacks will play their August 21 Tri Nations match against the Springboks at the 95,000-capacity Soccer City. Henry confirmed the match had been shifted from Johannesburg's Ellis Park to the stadium in Soweto that will host the World Cup final on July 12.