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Eddie Jones gives 'mate over a beer' reason for Steve Hansen invite
By Liam Heagney
Eddie Jones has likened the presence of New Zealand’s Rugby World Cup-winning coach Steve Hansen in the Wallabies camp as more like a chat with a mate over a beer rather than talking team tactics. The Kiwis were rocked to hear that Hansen was in enemy territory ahead of next month’s tournament in France, with their prime minister Chris Hipkins joking they should cancel his citizenship.
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Veteran hooker Dane Coles said he was go-smacked and admitted it “hurt a bit” to see his former coach involved with their arch-rivals. Jones said he had called on his long-time coaching rival and good friend to get a fresh perspective on the Wallabies, who open their World Cup against Georgia on Saturday, September 9.
“I have coached against Steve since 1998 so we have got a long relationship, enjoy each other’s company and I always had the thought we wanted this week to be a reset week for us,” Jones told reporters from France on Tuesday night.
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“We have been through the Rugby Championship, done our Australian responsibilities and now it is a rest, so we have brought in Steve to have a look at what we are doing. It’s purely like a mate having a beer (asking), ‘What do you think? Where can we improve’?”
Asked what Hansen was looking at, Jones replied: “There is two main areas: there is training quality, which is our way of improving, and leadership of the team. So Steve is having a look at both of those areas.
“Every time he speaks there is some wisdom in what he says – when he says something, we are listening to him and how we can improve what we are doing, we are looking to see if we can use his advice to do that.”
While it caused shockwaves across the Tasman Jones said his players welcomed someone of Hansen’s calibre, who boasts the most wins of any All Blacks coach. “They like good people coming into camp, they want to get better and they can see the value of Steve,” Jones said.
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“If you just look at his Test record, I think he has coached 200 Tests; for the All Blacks he won I think 87 per cent. So they like good people coming into camp and he is a good person, so the reaction has been really positive.”
