Hansen's view carries weight of experience

Steve Hansen with All Blacks' squad - Lynn McConnell pic

Former All Black coach Steve Hansen has always been an outspoken advocate for the game and he thinks the Covid-19 pandemic may well provide a chance for the game's issues to be resolved.

In a wide-ranging two-part interview with walesonline.co.uk Hansen, who was one of the few high-profile people in the game to push for a global season, said the pandemic represented a great chance for all affected parties across the world to come together and do what was right for the game.

"It's been a long time coming because it's been needed for quite some time.

"There has been a lot of self-interest and if we don't do the right thing we could lose the game and that would be a tragedy.

"We have lost our way in rugby a little bit and we haven't been working well enough together.

"Maybe this pandemic has caused a crisis that means we have to. If that's the case, then that's one positive to come out some something that's pretty ordinary," he said.

No one has been at the sharp end of the modern game as long as Hansen. While others have come or gone, moved on to other contracts or given the game away, Hansen spent 20 years at the highest level pouring his energy into five World Cup campaigns, one with Wales and four with New Zealand, coming away with two gold medals and one bronze.

That puts him in a place to offer a rare perspective of life at the top.

No surprise surrounds the fact the 2007 World Cup quarterfinal exit had such an effect on his career.

"I think that was a turning point in New Zealand's World Cup history.

"The New Zealand Rugby Union were strong enough, smart enough, whatever you want to call it, to say we were going to come back in and do it again.

"It was the first time in All Black history a group of coaches had been given the opportunity to take the lessons they had learned from World Cup poor performances and put them into the next one," he said.

Winning in 2011 had been achieved 'by the skin of our teeth under some tough mental issues', the result of not having won the trophy in 24 years.

Apart from losing four first five-eighths they also had captain Richie McCaw with two broken bones in his foot.

"We didn't know they were broken because we didn't ask. We didn't want to know and he didn't want to say.

"What he did in that tournament was phenomenal. Mentally, he would be the toughest bloke I have had anything to do within my coaching career.

"I think he's the best rugby player the world has ever seen," he said.

But the World Cup provided its lessons and with New Zealand having learned more than any other team, it was a case of having to get things right or you lost the opportunity.

"In the one just gone, [2019] we played really good rugby, bar for one game, and unfortunately that one game says, 'right, you don't get a second chance'.

"And England, who played so tremendously well against us, couldn't back it up in the final," he said.

Hansen also admitted to not coaching as well as he might have in the 2017 series against the British & Irish Lions.

"I was pretty disappointed in myself and some of the coaching decisions I made," he said.

At the same time, he felt the series could have been significantly different.

The way the second Test was lost, after Sonny Bill Williams' red card, and with the All Blacks leading into the final moments he was frustrated at the end.

"To lose it on a penalty where a guy tackles a guy jumping to catch the ball from a poor pass when everyone knows that wasn't intentional of that rule, that's frustrating.

"Then the last game was frustrating with the decision at the end [with Ken Owens] that was so obvious to everybody, but no one wanted to admit it," he said.

Another view of 1980 Olympic Games boycott

International Olympic Committee member Anita DeFrantz, a rowing bronze medalist in 1976, recounted her memories, and her lawsuit, against the United States Olympic Committee, over the 1980 boycott of the Moscow Olympic Games.

In an open letter to Olympic supporters in the wake of the 40th anniversary of the Moscow Games, she drew a parallel with the postponement of the 2020 Games in Tokyo.

DeFrantz was also a lawyer and after the USOC voted to boycott the Summer Olympics in 1980 she realised the only chance for athletes was to sue.

"Forty years ago, I looked at April 12 as my date with destiny," she said in an open 

"As an IOC member and Olympian, I know how difficult this postponement is for the host city and certainly for the athletes training to compete in those Games.

"No one knows how adding a year to the quadrennial effort will affect athletes. I know that athletes will find some way to train. Although some may lose their chance to be known as Olympians," she said.

April 12, 1980, had changed her path in life.

"It was crushing for me to know that only 30 percent of the assembled delegates voted to support the athletes' right to compete. The others I called medical miracles because they could walk without a spine," she said.

'The others I called medical miracles because they could walk without a spine.'

"They knew that every athlete had found their own way to an Olympic sport and that we had to finance all our training. Not a penny of federal, state or local taxpayer funds supported the US athletes training with the goal of becoming a member of the 1980 US Olympic team."

DeFrantz's legal action proved unsuccessful, losing at both the district level and on appeal.

"During one of the administration's briefings held at the State Department, I asked the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General David C. Jones, USAF, if our staying at home would save a least one life? His response was, 'No'."

The IOC had supported the 1980 Moscow Games as it had each host city. But documents from the Carter Presidential Library reveal the Carter Administration's wish was to destroy the IOC, she said.

"Much has changed in 40 years. Today, of the 15 members of the IOC Executive Board there are eight Olympians, four women and four men. Two of us [herself and president Thomas Bach] suffered through the political machinations of 1980 and we have firsthand knowledge of how that affected the rest of an athlete's life.

"I admire today's athletes and hope they will stay safe and healthy. Unlike 40 years ago, it is abundantly clear that through his postponement, countless lives will be saved," she said.

All Blacks could play Wales three times in Oct-Nov

Should Test rugby be possible by November, the All Blacks could feature in three Tests against Wales.

The two old rivals were set to meet in two Tests in the July international window in New Zealand but with travel restrictions around the world and New Zealand's borders still closed that is highly unlikely.

However, walesonline.co.uk has reported in a revised calendar being drawn up by World Rugby, Wales could play eight matches, three of them against New Zealand.

World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont said 'excellent progress' was being made in discussions among top-tier nations.

It is likely games will be played in October-November to make up for the cancellation of the July tours.

The cancelled July games would be played in October while Wales would also play Scotland to complete its Six Nations programme that was postponed in March.

Then, in November, Wales would play New Zealand, South Africa, Argentina and Fiji.

New Zealand were keen to play their games as part of a tour so that could mean one or two of the Wales Tests could be played at other venues. It was considered unlikely that eight consecutive matches would be played at Cardiff's Principality Stadium.

World Rugby was still keen to see the July programme go ahead but the autumn programme was a possible alternative.

If it does go ahead Wales and the other home nations and France would play 13 Test matches within six months.

Poite still chips Owens on Eden Park penalty

British & Irish Lions and Wales hooker Ken Owens, the man at the centre of the controversial conclusion to the third Lions Test against the All Blacks at Eden Park in 2017, has revealed he still gets chipped about it by the referee concerned Roman Poite.

With the scores level at 15-15 Owens was penalised for playing the ball from an offside position, a position that would have provided All Black Beauden Barrett with a chance to kick a last-minute penalty goal for New Zealand to claim the Test and the series.

Controversially, the ruling was overturned with the game and series drawn.

Owens told Joe's House of Rugby podcast, "Just before it happened, I was going, 'Right boys, exit now, let's restart, get the ball back down the field, switch on' and all the rest of it.

"[It was a case of] Don't f… up and then I f….. up!

"I went straight to Jonathan Davies, who is one of my best mates, and I said I am going to have to move to Trellech – which is about 17 miles out of Carmarthen [his home town], the most rural part of the county – and like hide away for the rest of my life.

"So there was relief in there when it wasn't a penalty," he said.

A scrum was called instead and the Lions held the All Blacks out to secure the draw.

"When Roman Poite refs me now, he does drop in a little quip now and again, with 'Stay onside this time, Ken' or something like that."

Owens said he went into the All Blacks changing room afterwards to congratulate All Blacks captain Kieran Read for winning his 100th cap but he said, 'He wouldn't really speak to me'.

"To be fair, he did apologise after the third-place play-off at the World Cup. There were emotions running high at the time," he said.

Owens added that he had enjoyed playing under coach Warren Gatland, now back in New Zealand and coaching the Chiefs in Super Rugby.

"You know exactly what he expects of you and you can just crack on then and know where you stand. He just gives you massive confidence and gets that winning mentality out of players.

"His man-management is so clever. He knows the individuals in his team and what they need to get the best out of them. Some boys just need to be hammered all the time because that's how they perform.

"Others constantly need the carrot. It was probably stick early on with me.

"He would be different to every player and he would keep changing his tack. It wouldn't be the same way all that time. That was his biggest strength," he said.

Hard man lists contain many omissions

At a time when sports news outlets are struggling for content, list-making becomes much more prevalent.

And imagination has certainly been fired up in efforts to stay engaged with their readership.

It is ultimately an exercise in futility as most lists involve comparing generations and choices that will never be tested in the white heat of combat.

Everyone has their reasons for making their choices and they are often more interesting than the choices themselves.

One especially difficult group of lists has been doing the rounds this week, the choice of the 'hardest' players in rugby.

Inevitably, selections tend to be about as deep as the owner's memory which can be 20 years or 40 years.

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But rugby was being played a long time before that.

Two lists this week have been completed by Stuart Barnes and Graham Price, both British & Irish Lions, from England and Wales respectively.

Barnes' top 10 was: Gareth Chilcott (England), Gerard Cholley (France), Jonny Wilkinson (England), Graham Price (Wales), Eben Etzebeth (South Africa), Wayne Shelford (New Zealand), David Pocock (Australia), Richie McCaw (New Zealand), Scott Gibbs (Wales), Jim Telfer (Scotland).

Price's list was: Cholley, Michel Palmie (France), Alain Esteve (France), Colin Meads (New Zealand), Frank Oliver (New Zealand), Fran Cotton (England), Shelford, Jerry Collins (New Zealand, Bakkies Botha (South Africa), Etzebeth.

For what it's worth, some notable omissions would appear to be: Alex Wyllie (New Zealand), Alain Plantefol (France), Mark Shaw (New Zealand), Morne du Plessis (South Africa), Sebastian Chabal (France), Ken Gray (New Zealand), Mervyn Davies (Wales), Bismarck du Plessis (South Africa), Kevin Skinner (New Zealand), Chris Koch (South Africa), Keith Murdoch (New Zealand) and that's without dipping back into the pre-World War Two era.

Wyllie's reputation is well known and was to the fore in South Africa in 1970 and Britain and France in 1972-73 but most notably with Canterbury who enjoyed a fearsome reputation in the late-1960s and early 1970s as the Lions discovered in 1971.

Plantefol was the player who took on Colin Meads in the Test many All Blacks said was the toughest they ever played, against France on the 1967 tour. It was his actions that resulted in Meads wearing a prolific amount of bandaging under a scrum cap in the Test against Scotland a week later where he was ordered off.

Shaw was a handy player to have around when the going got willing during the mid-1980s while Morne du Plessis, the Springbok captain during the 1976 series against the All Blacks, was a constant menace among a very big pack, several of whom could also have joined the list.

Sebastian Chabal with his long hair and beard, and more than a little ability, was tough as teak and a fearsome player to run into, just ask Ali Williams who had his jaw broken in a clash.

When Colin Meads said Ken Gray was one of the strongest men he ever scrummaged with the commendation doesn't come much higher.

Mervyn Davies' contribution was an often forgotten part of the 1971 Lions' structure in their series win over the All Blacks. But his work at No 8 gave Gareth Edwards and Barry John the ride that allowed them to dictate their side's success.

Hooker Bismarck du Plessis wasn't afraid to mix it in all company while Kevin Skinner and Chris Koch had plenty of history in 1949 and 1956 to the point Skinner's involvement became folklore, even if Skinner maintained it wasn't as bad as was made out.

And it can be safely said that no one ever got the better of Keith Murdoch. Playing through a Test match and then being operated on for appendicitis says it all. His career was short but he made a big impact with his crowning glory his try in the 19-16 win over Wales that preceded his sending home.

Memory is selective and some of the toughest players are known only to their opponents, doing their job buried in the tight and winning little obvious recognition but gaining respect nonetheless.

Wallabies were offered $200,000 for 1988 Rebel tour to SA

It has often been a source of conjecture in New Zealand rugby: how much did the Cavaliers get paid to make their rebel tour of South Africa in 1986?

The tour was the result of the legal ruling that the All Blacks could not make their 1985 tour of South Africa because it went against the NZRFU constitution. Players who made the tour received a two-Test suspension.

While there were suspicions of payments being made to undertake the tour, nothing official was ever outlined.

However, former Wallaby Brett Papworth has revealed what Australian players were to be paid for a similar rebel tour to be undertaken in 1988.

In an interview on rugby.com.au, Papworth said that after the 1987 Rugby World Cup and a tour to South America later that year he switched to rugby league.

The reason for that move was the cancellation of the Rebel tour.

"We had a rebel tour of South Africa planned and pretty much ready to go. It was worth $A200,000 tax-free," he said.

"We were days away from hitting the airport and it all blew up into this massive controversy. The tour got canned but I'd already spent that 200 grand in my head.

"The league boys had been chasing me for a while and it was pretty big money. I spoke to the Bulldogs, Tigers, the Gold Coast Giants and the Roosters. I chose the Rooster because I thought they were on the way up but the Bulldogs and Tigers ended up playing in the grand final of '88," he said.

Papworth said he never regretted move because he enjoyed meeting other players and it had been worthwhile financially. But he never reached his potential in the game as he twice broke his forearm, suffered a 'smashed' jaw and suffered two bad knee injuries.

Before getting back into rugby he endured a long court battle for reinstatement and is now president of the Eastwood club and a director of the Sydney Rugby Union.

The former second five-eighths was a dynamic performer who made his Test debut in 1985 after an outstanding schoolboys career for Australia.

He was part of the Alan Jones-coached side who won the Bledisloe Cup on their New Zealand tour of 1986.

"You don't beat the Kiwis on home soil very often. The fact we haven't won there [Eden Park] since then is remarkable but shows you just how tough it is," he said.

"We had a bloody good team and were good that day and they had a bit of turbulence. There had been a rebel tour of South Africa and they [New Zealand] welcomed most of those blokes back, so it was a difficult time for them.

"But they were still a great side and we should have won all three Tests [instead of 2-1]. We had a try disallowed in the second Test to Steve Tuynman that the Welsh referee [Derek Bevan] now admits was a try. We lost 13-12 before winning in Auckland," he said.

The Australians, joint hosts with New Zealand of the inaugural World Cup in 1987, felt they were a good chance to win the title. They were beaten in one of the semifinals by France.

"We played a World Cup semifinal at Concord Oval – people wouldn't believe it! We were holed up at the Travelodge at Camperdown, so it was hardly glamorous. Blokes were working. Jonesy [Alan Jones] was doing his radio show in the morning so we'd meet at 10 o'clock for training and then go off. But it was a big-time for us. We felt it was pretty special.

"We should have won that semifinal but couldn't get the job done. It was back and forth with the lead changing hands probably five or six times. They ended up scoring [in injury time]. It is considered one of the great games and when you get older, the winning and losing ceases to be so important. It was a special game to be part of," he said.

Pichot comes off the bench swinging

Amid all the publicity and discussion over the future of rugby in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, Easter Sunday's announcement that Agustin Pichot is challenging Bill Beaumont for the chairmanship of World Rugby has lobbed another grenade into the administrative melee.

Beaumont, a representative of the old face of the game, whether he likes it or not, may have thought he would be unchallenged for the chairmanship. But Pichot, the Argentine halfback in his playing days, produced a dart around the blindside to make a late entry into the race.

Beaumont didn't help himself when announcing Frenchman Bernard Laporte as his running mate, thereby forcing a wedge between himself and Pichot, his deputy on the world body.

Ever the politician Laporte is not the most popular man in the world game.

But Pichot has gone bold and seized his moment in a time when World Rugby is vulnerable.

He has outlined a six-point plan of revolution in the game, something that could appeal in the revised nature of the sport once the pandemic is contained.

Having seen his plans for the Nations Championship rejected last year, he has taken the lesson and amended the scope of his plan. It would be an annual tournament featuring the top 12 teams from both hemispheres.

"The Nations Championship is the starting point but we need more people at the table to discuss the proposal: clubs, players, unions, private equity.

"Things were blocked last year but I believe this virus will change people and change the way they do things. I think it could create a revolution in our game because you have to look again at the whole ecosystem," he said.

He wants a more democratic organisation and an end to the archaic voting system that embeds the power of the top tier nations while also introducing a revenue-sharing funding model.

He would encourage a greater concentration on grassroots and youth rugby with special focus on emerging nations.

Pichot would develop players' commissions, similar to the structure the International Olympic Committee employs and which was so strong in forcing their parent body to postpone the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. At the same time, he wants discussions to take place to reduce player wages to create sustainability in the game.

He wants a 'fit for purpose' organisation with a review of all internal structures to restore trust in the governing body.

Interestingly, Pichot has no running mate and has taken an independent stance.

"It is a critical time and a critical selection," he told the Daily Mail.

"I have a different vision of the game to Bill. I'm not saying mine is better than his and I don't have a bad word to say against him, but we think differently.

"Our sport has to adjust to the modern way. It's not about anarchy. It's about modern, equal, professional democracy. We need solidarity and certainty in times of crisis.

"The system does not trust World Rugby…that's the reality. We let politics get inside the organisation and that's not good. I have been a part of it and I should have pushed harder for a fairer system," he said.

Pichot sees the private equity company CVC has a key contributor to the required chance.

"They will want things organised to make more money. A critical situation will put you on a creative pathway to change things," he said.

Amazon Prime, Google or Netflix would be crucial players in creating more income over the next five years, he said.

"If you ask most business people how they run a company and how they spend their money, it's not being done in rugby. I'm not here to fly around the world, go to amazing places and have a good time. We need to look at expenditure and head counts," he said.