Rugby: Steve Hansen - I won't bully the referee

All Black coach Steve Hansen speaks to media. Photo / Getty

Steve Hansen will meet with referee Jaco Peyper ahead of the first test against the Lions.

But Hansen doesn't want to say any more than that. Whatever he wants to talk about will remain between him and Peyper.

To go public he says would be akin to bullying the referee - something he doesn't think would be fair and something that ultimately he thinks will be counter productive.

And by suggesting it would be bullying, he has implied that Lions coach Warren Gatland is guilty of that very behaviour.

In what has become quite a testy battle between the respective coaches, Hansen managed to land another decent blow on his opposite - chiding Gatland for talking earlier this week about his concerns that 'blocking' is epidemic in New Zealand rugby and while it is illegal, seems to go mostly unpunished.

His decision to air those concerns via the British media has obviously not gone down well with the All Blacks who feel that applying public pressure on a referee is not within the spirit of the game.

It's also contrary to agreements that international coaches made earlier this year when World Rugby hosted a conference to plot a path to help officials, coaches and players work with greater understanding and respect.

"If I talk to you [media] about it then I am applying pressure and that is comparable to bullying him so I don't want to do that," Hansen said when he was asked what he would like to say to Peyper.

"I'll just quietly talk to him on Friday and there are certain areas of the game we will talk about and they will be consistent with what everyone talked about in March."

Gatland's specific point was in relation to New Zealand teams using defenders to get in the way of kick chasers. He has felt that in this tour, too many teams have run interference to protect the man trying to catch the high ball or kick off.

In his defence, it's a valid point and one that Hansen himself conceded. But Hansen's belief is that there is usually a clear distinction between illegal blocking and players using the law.

"The referee has got the hardest job in the world I reckon," said Hansen. "With blocking the rule says that as long as you don't change your direction of running then you are entitled to run back and help your teammate. And that is the key.

"Turn around and run back and don't change your line and if your line is the same then you are not blocking. If you run five metres to get in front of someone then you are dumb. That is dopey and in that case, Gats is quite right.

"It happens every week. If you look at the Samoa game then it happened to us and I am sure if Warren is willing and able to look closely at his own team, they have been doing it too.

"Have we got concerns? We just want the referee to referee the way they said they would in March and to be consistent. Will there be mistakes? Yep there will be because they are human just like both teams will make mistakes.

"There is no point in trying to bully the referees publicly in the media. We will talk about it in private and he will get his interpretations across of what he wants and it will be up to us and go out and deliver that."