The New Zealander, who took over the job from fellow Kiwi Graham Henry in February 2002, had always insisted that he would only take the job for two and a half years. At a press conference in Cardiff today he repeated that ‘nothing had changed’ in his personal circumstances to change his mind.
“The circumstances of wanting to go home haven’t changed. From the outset I made it clear that I would do the job for two and a half years and that remains the case,” said Hansen. “My main objective was to try and improve the team and leave those things in Welsh rugby that I have some control over in a better shape than I found them. The fact that there are signs that we are moving forward hasn’t changed that either.”
Hansen was reluctant to talk about his future after next May when he will return to New Zealand though stated that he would not be applying for the job of All Blacks Head Coach. He said: “I would be interested in doing that job one day but I am not eligible at this stage as I have not been coaching in New Zealand. So I will not be applying.”
At the moment Hansen has the worst record in Welsh rugby history with just nine victories in twenty-six Tests as well as a further two defeats to the Barbarians, however, he saw his stock rise following Wales’s performances in Australia against New Zealand and England.
“We made a lot of progress but there is still a lot of work to be done,” said Hansen. “We showed the type of rugby we want to play in those last games. In the opening games we had to be a little less exciting as we had to qualify at all costs. Hopefully we have got people in Wales excited about rugby again and that will help push things forward.”
