Trevor Mallard asks Steve Hansen to consider another Rugby World Cup run

Former Sports Minister Trevor Mallard asked All Blacks' coach Steve Hansen to consider staying on and try to be the first coach to win back-to-back Rugby World Cups.

Speaking in Parliament's tribute debate today, Mallard said when Hansen first got the coaching job, he had his doubts.

"But the first time I heard him speak-actually at the Wainuiōmata Rugby Club-I had no doubts whatsoever, because what was clear was a ferocious, but well-hidden, intellect, a wonderful sense of humour, and the ability to select for the longer term, which has meant that he has built a team that is really special.," Mallard said.

"It is a golden era, and I for one hope that he will think very, very carefully about the possibility of being the first coach to take two."

Mallard also said New Zealand was finding Hansen's humour "very, very special."

Since the 34 - 17 victory against Australia at the weekend, Hansen has said he would probably hang up his All Black coaching boots next year.

Mallard, a Hurricanes supporter, said Dan Carter had broken his heart a few times "but his career and especially his vision in the final and his skills in the final were the like of a fly-half that I think it will be a while until we see one so good again."

" We do not know yet officially the future of Richie McCaw as far as rugby is concerned, but if you ever had someone who could lead by example, who could develop a team of leaders around him and really make a difference both on and off the field, then Richie McCaw has done that."

Mallard paid tribute to the late Jock Hobbs for leading New Zealand rugby into a professional era of administration.

In good humour, he thanked Prime Minister John Key for getting his picture taken with All Black Sam Whitelock at the end of the semi-final - "just to show the perspective of rugby players and politicians in New Zealand."

The angle of the photo and the lens made the Prime Minster look like a hobbit next to the lock.

Key kicked off the tributes saying the team had proven that it was not just the deeds on the field but the deeds off the field that counted.

"Who will forget the way that this team acted as great ambassadors of this country, right through the entire world cup campaign and right up until after the whistle had been blown, when Sonny Bill Williams took the unusual and, dare I say it, remarkable step of giving his medal to a young lad who had raced on to the paddock?"

but when it comes to this All Blacks side one thing that it has proven is that it is not just the deeds that it does on the field; it is, in fact, the deeds it does off the field," said Key.

"Who will forget the way that this team acted as great ambassadors of this country, right through the entire world cup campaign and right up until after the whistle had been blown, when Sonny Bill Williams took the unusual and, dare I say it, remarkable step of giving his medal to a young lad who had raced on to the paddock?

"They are a fine All Blacks side. They will be absolutely and rightfully adored by the public when they get off the flight from the United Kingdom tomorrow.

"They are an All Blacks side that makes every single one of us feel good, and they deserve our congratulations."