Wales assistant coach promises a Cardiff surprise

For much of this week, All Black assistant coach Steve Hansen will have been second-guessing what caper his Welsh counterpart, Scott Johnson, will pull in Cardiff.

Johnson was initially hired by Graham Henry for Wales in 2002 but that association lasted only two days before Henry quit and Hansen took over.

He and Johnson have been very good mates since and Hansen regularly talks about Johnson's ability to suss out the opposition and come up with creative plays.

"It is something you have to try and you never want to disappoint," Johnson said. "I can categorically say there will be something there for the All Black this weekend."

That promise between mates is an intriguing subplot and not an idle boast from the Australian, who has been a nemesis for both Henry and the All Blacks before.

For a bloke who likes to work in the shadows, Johnson was pitched into the limelight this week when newspapers reported his off-the-record, private and humorous observation that New Zealand was just a "poxy little island in the South Pacific".

The All Blacks accepted the remark as offhand comical nonsense although yesterday he was forced to continue the gag in public as his Welsh colleagues looked on.

Johnson wore a t-shirt emblazoned with the word "Poxy" and a bullseye.

The back of the shirt had further inscriptions of "I love Kiwis" and, on a lower line "when they are in New Zealand".

The likeable 42-year-old then accepted he had not been misquoted but wanted to apologise because he realised New Zealand was, in fact, two islands.

The public chastising done to great mirth, the journalist who had reported Johnson's initial private remark was later ejected from subsequent player interviews.

But if the "poxy" episode was a lighter moment this week, there will be great All Black wariness about Johnson.

A former Eastwood and Sydney utility back, Johnson was taught to coach by his father, Geoff, who had a reputation as a very innovative rugby tutor.

Johnson's reputation for logic and rare rugby acumen has grown so much that Wallaby coach Eddie Jones has tried, unsuccessfully, on a number of occasions to persuade him to join his staff.

But Jones was able to tap into Johnson's knowledge at the All Blacks' expense in the World Cup semifinal last year once Wales had lost their match against New Zealand.

Two years before, Johnson was credited with assisting the series reversal as the Wallabies beat Henry's touring British Lions. He helped crack the Lions' lineout calls after they had won the first test.

He is forever happy to be a backroom technician, someone without an ego who is a perfect assistant. He has a rare mind and, on one New South Wales tour, flummoxed players by asking them why no one ever saw baby seagulls.

A self-confessed blue-collar left-wing bloke, he favours heart and soul team players with attitudes and ideas - an approach which endeared him to Wales and Hansen.

"It is always great to see Steve because he did so much bloody hard work over here," Johnson said.

"He was under duress here to make changes but he had great guts, he never wavered and stuck to his guns.

"I loved his strength of character and he will always be a lifelong friend."

Johnson is fascinated by the chess-like demands of international rugby, always working on how to crack defences and create space.

"That is just the way my mind works, it makes me what I am," he said.

And you can bet this week, that Hansen will have been doing a great deal of thinking about what Johnson is up to, as Wales seek to overturn 50 years of misery.

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