Hansen pours cold water on Deans saga
All Black mentor Steve Hansen has nipped the coaching rivalry between the All Blacks and the Wallabies in the bud ahead of their opening Rugby Championship match in Sydney on August 18.
Hansen said the media’s obsession with All Blacks-Wallabies coach rivalries has grown stale and detracts from the true contest between the two nations.
"Any New Zealand contest against Australia is always a challenge. It's one we love, don't we? It's someone we play and we want to beat, it's the same over there. They feel the same way about us as we do about them – it's a mutual respect,” said Hansen.
"It's certainly not about Robbie Deans and Steve Hansen, we've already done that for five to six years with Robbie Deans and Graham Henry, it's becoming quite boring."
Hansen said they are looking forward to the inaugural four-nation tournament and the fresh challenges that come along with it.
"As a group we're very, very excited and upbeat about what we are going to go into because it is going to let us know exactly where we sit as a team," he said.
"Our other big challenge is in our hands and that is how we get better. It's not so much about the opponents it is about how we as individuals and collectively as a group we get better and raise the bar to the level we want to be at," he added.
Hansen also explained why in-form Chiefs scrumhalf Tawera Kerr-Barlow was omitted from the squad, saying it was decided to select only two scrumhalves for the tournament.
He added that Kerr-Barlow would likely join the squad for the end-of-year tour of Europe.
