Glenn Delaney on Scarlets and All Blacks

When the rugby world returns to normal former Highlanders' assistant coach Glenn Delaney will take the coaching reins at the Scarlets in Llanelli.

He left the Dunedin-based Super Rugby franchise to join Scarletts under former Crusaders assistant coach Brad Mooar, who halfway through his first season with the club was appointed to Ian Foster's All Blacks' coaching team.

Delaney told The Rugby Paper that he had loved his first eight months with the Scarlets.

"The decision to come here was considered heavily and it's turned out to be much better than I'd ever hoped. We've got a fabulous playing group, a really energising group of backroom staff and a club that has an unbelievable history with some wonderful characters," he said.

Making comparisons between the Welsh club and the Canterbury system he had also worked in, Delaney said the belief the game was a provider to society that enabled people to be at their very best was something they had in common.

One of the unique factors involved with the Scarlets was dealing with the high number of Test players the side had.

"There's a lot of call on their time so you go from stages of the season where it might be like playing a full Test match against, say, Leinster, to other games where you're playing more of a developing, emerging-type side where guys are learning the game," he said.

Delaney said his coaching experience with Nottingham, London Irish, Canterbury, the Highlanders and the Scarlets had all been positive.

"I've been really fortunate to have been able to go to the places I have. I've loved every environment I've been in, they're all unique and they've all taught me a lot," he said.

Taking on the Scarlets' role would continue what he believed was great work done by Mooar.

"An opportunity arose here from that and, after a considered process, I was happy to accept the jobs. It's great to get the chance to continue the work he's started," he said.

Delaney said having spent more time in the northern hemisphere than the south he could see how good England had become at the Rugby World Cup when they beat the All Blacks in the semifinal.

"The best team won that game and the standard of their play went through the roof. The irony, of course, is that nobody really spoke much about South Africa but they came through and were the best team in the end. The All Blacks would have been disappointed to finish in that third-fourth place game but that's the nature of rugby, it can't all be one way. It shows the game's evolving and that's what we want. We need more teams to be competing at that level."

Delaney said he thought the All Blacks coaching group would be a 'hell of a coaching combination'.

"There's always good depth in New Zealand rugby and when you look at a lad like Crusaders' centre/wing Braydon Ennor, there's an example of a 22-year-old guy who's come through the Canterbury system and is taking Super Rugby by storm. He'll find his way into the All Blacks' environment now, as guys like Jack Goodhue and Sevu Reece have, and they'll always have players who are well coach, have a good skill set and can play the game at a high level.

"Scott Barrett is a mainstay of the pack they'll probably build around now and there're enough experienced guys like Nepo Laulala, Joe Moody, Codie Taylor, Dane Coles, Sam Cane and Aaron Smith to ensure a pretty seamless transition. There'll be some exuberance about that New Zealand team now," he said.

All Blacks coach prepared for fiery England

All Blacks coach Steve Hansen is refusing to follow the media line, both in New Zealand and England, that Stuart Lancaster's team have a herculean task ahead of them in the three-Test series.

Hansen announced his squad for the series on Sunday in Auckland.

It features two new All Blacks, Auckland and Blues lock Patrick Tuipolotu and Auckland and Highlanders centre Malakai Fekitoa, and three returning All Blacks loose forwards Victor Vito and Jerome Kaino and first five-eighths Colin Slade.

"I note that England have been written off but they will have a good side for the first Test. They are the most improved side in world rugby in the last 18 months," Hansen said.

The unbeaten 2013 season was well behind the All Blacks and now it was a case of coming back and reasserting themselves.

"That's a challenge we are looking forward to. Both sides are wanting to perform well ahead of next year's World Cup," he said.

Of his new players Hansen said Fekitoa had been in sensational form and while there were parts of his game that he could improve it was a no-brainer that he should be included in the side.

Tuipolotu was a tighthead lock who got his chance as a result of injury suffered by Luke Romano. But he had the core skills the selectors were seeking and they were looking forward to working with him.

Vito's return had come about because of the increased physicality of his play. He was picking up turnovers, carrying the ball better and making good ground.

"We always knew he was a good athlete," he said.

Kaino's call-up was anticipated given the form he had shown since his return from Japan. He showed he had lost none of his physicality from the moment he resumed with the Blues and as the season progressed he had adapted to the pace of the game and his intensity levels were good.

"I thought last night he was outstanding [in the Blues win over the Hurricanes]," he said.

Steven Luatua missed the squad but Hansen said he knew what the reasons were for that and it was up to him to motivate himself to improve in the same way that Kaino and Vito had done in their careers.

While there was a need to blood new hookers for the side, Hansen said the selectors would not pick players unless they were ready and the two young hookers who have been involved in the side's apprenticeship scheme, Liam Coltman and Nathan Harris, would spend time with the side in their respective regions. If there was an injury to either Keven Mealamu or Dane Coles the selectors would not rule out calling up a player like Crusaders hooker Corey Flynn.

With first five-eighths Aaron Cruden out of rugby for six weeks, and in a well-beaten Chiefs team on Saturday night, Hansen said he played like a player who had had time off, and in a side with some issues at the moment.

However, Cruden had shown in the past that he took time to come back and Saturday's game would have done him some good.

Hansen added that the selectors were already firm in their choice of first five-eighths for Saturday's first Test in Auckland.