All Blacks: Spin doctors for Hansen

Steve Hansen. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Steve Hansen has confirmed he wants to be the next All Blacks coach and that, for the past 18 months, he has been taking advice on how to improve his public image.

In an exclusive interview with New Zealand Rugby World to be published tomorrow, the current assistant reveals how he believes he is ready to succeed Graham Henry after the World Cup - and that he now has a small advisory group who have helped him improve his relationships with the media.

Hansen's decision to seek external help - former TVNZ chief executive Ian Fraser is understood to be the main confidant - was made in 2009, when the All Blacks endured their worst season of Henry's reign.

Hansen came under siege from the media, as he was deemed responsible for the poor work of the All Black forwards.

He famously hit out at the media following the third loss to South Africa, claiming that no one ever made statues to celebrate critics.

A few weeks later, it was announced he would shift his coaching portfolio and be responsible for the All Blacks' attack. It was a shift designed to take the pressure off Hansen and keep him in the background during the end of year tour.

"There are people that I go to and talk to, particular after 2009 when I was fighting the media," Hansen says in the NZ Rugby World interview.

"Rightly or wrongly, I had had a gutsful of a lot of things and I thought I would take them on. I found out the media are mightier than the individual and they fought back and it wasn't pretty.

"But I have learned out of that. I think over the last 12 to 18 months, I have been working with the media. For me, the team always comes first and if it is better for the team, then that is what you have to do."

Having been head coach of Wales between 2002 and 2004 and an assistant with the All Blacks since 2004, Hansen has the necessary experience and success in the international arena to be viewed as one of the strongest challengers when the job is put up for tender later this year.

While Henry is yet to announce his plans, it is understood he will not seek a third term, while Hansen's fellow assistant Wayne Smith has confirmed he will not be involved with the All Blacks in any capacity in 2012.

Hansen will need to build a new coaching team - which will be one of his major challenges in landing the job.

The other is convincing the NZRU that he has the overall skill set to handle the wider demands of the top job.

As John Mitchell discovered in 2003, winning tests is not always enough to keep the job. Relations with wider stakeholders such as sponsors, fans and media are important, as is projecting the appropriate overall image.

The NZRU held concerns in 2009 that Hansen was coming across a bit too much like a policeman.

The fact he has employed people to help him improve his demeanour and communication is believed to have gone down well with the NZRU, who respect that he is showing an understanding of what will be required if he is to win the top job.

But while Hansen knows what he wants to happen at the end of the year, he is quoted as saying that his immediate focus is on the present.

"The key priority is winning the World Cup," says Hansen. "That's the reason we all put our hats back in the ring. There was huge disappointment from the last time because it was a great opportunity, we had a good side and things just didn't go right. To fix that would be good.

"But then after that ... do I want to coach the All Blacks as the head coach?

"Yeah, I do. It's not something you set out to do when you are coaching but the further you go along and the more rewards you get, the more you start to say 'yes, that's an ambition'."