Hansen salutes young stars
All Blacks coach Steve Hansen was particularly pleased with the contribution the young guns in his team made to the 60-0 demolition of Ireland on Saturday.
The crushing victory sealed a 3-0 series whitewash and maintained the All Blacks unbeaten record against Ireland, and Hansen hailed the impact of young players like Sam Cane and Beauden Barrett who slotted into the world champion side with ease.
"We have introduced a group of young men to the All Black jersey and, by and large, we are pretty happy with how they have performed," he said.
Aaron Cruden was devastating until he limped off through injury, and his replacement Barrett showed impressive maturity to impose himself on the Irish, whilst Sam Cane proved that there is able back-up to captain Richie McCaw at openside flank with a dominant performance.
"Aaron Cruden ran the team as if he had been there for years, then Beauden came in and did the same. Sam Cane was outstanding tonight. He has given me an easier night's sleep tonight because I know how to look after my mate [Richie McCaw] beside me here," said Hansen.
The All Blacks boss said another pleasing aspect was the way his team managed to press home their advantage by keeping their discipline once they got the ascendency.
"A lot of times when you see games with high scores your defence goes but tonight the team showed discipline right through the game to defend well and that's all credit to them.
"We've got some talent in the side that can do damage to a lot of teams." he said.
