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Shots fired: Steve Hansen's hypocritical beef with Pat Lam

Will Steve Hansen make the call to stay on after the World Cup?

The All Blacks coach has taken a swipe at “ex-New Zealander” Pat Lam over Bristol’s signing of Steven Luatua – but he’s being a bit of a hypocrite, writes Jamie Wall.

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Steven Luatua seems like a pretty quiet guy, but his departure from New Zealand rugby has been making some noise – though none of it has come from him.

It was announced this week that the loose forward is heading to Bristol, the recently-promoted Aviva Premiership side coached by Pat Lam. He takes with him a massive amount of talent, which most Kiwi pundits would feel like he never really showed the full potential of during his 15 tests for the All Blacks.

Luatua’s departure is part of a somewhat worrying trend of All Blacks heading offshore with more than a few miles left on their odometers as far as services to New Zealand rugby is concerned.

One of the main reasons for him signing with bottom-of-the-table Bristol was the influence of his former coach at the Blues Pat Lam. Here’s what All Blacks coach Steve Hansen had to say about that:

He spoke briefly to the contracts team, and he’s been tapped on the shoulder by Pat Lam which is disappointing too. If you’re an ex-New Zealander you should be a bit mindful about players’ careers.

That’s the same Pat Lam who was the Blues best coach (record-wise) in the last decade. The same Pat Lam who the Blues fired and virtually sent into exile. And the same Pat Lam who has since guided Connacht from the ‘other guys’ in Irish rugby to a Pro12 title.

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Oh, and the same Pat Lam who was sent a racist text message from a former Auckland coach in the final days of his coaching tenure at the Blues.

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So the coach of the All Blacks calling a guy who was born and raised in Auckland, played for the Crusaders and one tour match for the All Blacks, and then had to put up with Mark Anscombe texting him an “ex-New Zealander” is… kind of stupid.

Hansen gets a pretty sweet ride from the New Zealand rugby media, mainly because he doesn’t really say much. When he does, it’s in such a laconic, Kiwi-bloke-who-reminds-us-of-the-good-old-days way that we can all have a laugh about it and not realise it’s more or less a stream of non-information.

But this time ‘Shag’ is being a grade-A hypocrite.

Suggesting Lam is trying to damage New Zealand rugby is a bit rich coming from someone who used to coach Wales. Especially since Wales in the pro era have always been quite reliant on convincing players born elsewhere to come and suddenly discover their Welsh heritage (including, most ironically, Mark Anscombe’s son).

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For his part, Lam has responded strongly, saying:

I believe many New Zealanders would also be offended to be labelled an ‘ex-New Zealander’ by the All Black coach … he has great influence because of his position of privilege and responsibility in representing New Zealand worldwide. Who determines and judges who is a New Zealander and who isn’t? I don’t believe that has ever been the role of the All Black head coach.

You don’t need a magnifying glass to read the serious beef lingering between those lines.

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Nickers 19 minutes ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

I thought we made a lot of progress against that type of defence by the WC last year. Lots of direct running and punching holes rather than using width. Against that type of defence I think you have to be looking to kick on first phase when you have front foot ball which we did relatively successfully. We are playing a lot of rugby behind the gain line at the moment. They are looking for those little interchanges for soft shoulders and fast ball or off loads but it regularly turns into them battering away with slow ball and going backwards, then putting in a very rushed kick under huge pressure.


JB brought that dimension when he first moved into 12 a couple of years ago but he's definitely not been at his best this year. I don't know if it is because he is being asked to play a narrow role, or carrying a niggle or two, but he does not look confident to me. He had that clean break on the weekend and stood there like he was a prop who found himself in open space and didn't know what to do with the ball. He is still a good first phase ball carrier though, they use him a lot off the line out to set up fast clean ball, but I don't think anyone is particularly clear on what they are supposed to do at that point. He was used really successfully as a second playmaker last year but I don't think he's been at that role once this year. He is a triple threat player but playing a very 1 dimensional role at the moment. He and Reiko have been absolutely rock solid on defence which is why I don't think there will be too much experimentation or changes there.

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