KEY POINTS:
Attack and defence are not the main threads of his All Black duties but assistant coach Steve Hansen uses both techniques when he discusses his set-piece portfolios.
As much as he likes to present a gruff exterior, Hansen has been nettled by reservations about his ability to prime an All Black pack, about the capacity of a former strong-running midfield back to deal with the specifics of forward play.
Hansen did admit, though it was in no way meant to vindicate his job, that "for a laugh" he did play a couple of games at loose forward for the La Rochelle club when he was playing in France in the '80s.
What amusement he got from the experience is not disclosed but he was not daunted a decade later when he was asked to coach the Canterbury forwards.
The CRU decided he should assist Robbie Deans and, with Deans as head coach and backs mentor, Hansen went on a forward play crash course.
An old mentor, Laurie Mains, showed a back could adapt especially well to coaching forwards and Hansen began tapping into a reservoir of familiar names and other local identities imbued with expertise.
Hansen unpicked his father's rugby knowledge and that of Andy Holland, Gordon Hunter and Alex Wyllie.
Men who moulded Hansen included Don Hayes, who helped with loose forward expertise, Vance Stewart and Mike Cron - who was involved from day one because of his specialist propping wisdom.
"There is a blueprint for forward play but you have also got to have the ability to think outside the square," he said.
Hansen was always on the lookout for information but he was also bold enough to use his knowledge of back play to help improve the forwards' contribution. At that stage, Canterbury were looking for multi-skilled forwards.
"I was really excited and stimulated by the challenge," he said.
"There are a lot of Olympic athletes who have been coached by people who have not done that particular sport - Mark Spitz won seven gold medals and, supposedly, his coach could not swim.
"It always makes me laugh when I read articles saying what does an ex-centre know about forward play. What does a doctor know about being a doctor until he studies it?"
Hansen learned and applied his trade with Canterbury, the Crusaders and Wales before he linked up again with Graham Henry and the All Blacks in 2004.
What state was the All Black set piece in then? "I think it was more a secondary thing," Hansen recalled.
"We had gone too far down the line of having multi-skilled athletes becoming the key thing and not being able to do the core roles.
"As great as the Super 14 had been, it was played in great weather for a large part and made for a more flowing game whereas in the Northern Hemisphere, rugby was a tighter, slower game involving more mature players so there was a lot more physical contact and a lot more set piece play and, therefore, a lot more understanding of it probably.
"The key thing was to turn that around and we put a lot of emphasis on it, we got Mike Cron on board to work with the scrum and now we have worked on the kick-off and lineout.
"The lineout is still the area where I think we can make some good progress."
Hansen thought there was a change from the opening test against England in 2004. Much of it he termed as "attitudinal" where the forwards decided they were not going to be intimidated.
"Those guys that evening really fronted up and though technically we weren't where we wanted to be, there was a shift in attitude."
The All Blacks were blessed with huge talent, great natural athletes like players in France, South Africa and Australia. The All Blacks were more fortunate though in that they got first pick of those players rather than rival codes.
"But your greatest strength can also be your greatest weakness because you attempt to do things that other people can't do and forget to do the basic things," Hansen said.
His squad had made huge advances with their scrum, breakdown and work at the kick-offs.
Lineouts were still a work in progress and would remain so. It was the toughest set piece issue because it was the most contested, most analysed part of the sport. Lineouts were easily picked apart by rival video analysts.
Hansen has a theory that New Zealand sides may have been the slowest to adapt to the lineout competition because they had such superb loose forwards they thought they could regain the ball at the subsequent breakdowns.
He accepts New Zealand teams and the All Blacks developed bad habits because they did not contest the lineouts.
"We looked for space and a lot of movement and got too complicated. I think we're making good progress, like Eden Park in the second-half [of the] Bledisloe Cup.
"We were under pressure, we made a couple of bad calls, one underthrow and we lost one.
"And then we came out after the break, simplified it and won every lineout whereas I think in the past we would have collapsed inwardly and lost lineouts throughout the entire game."
Hansen was not disconcerted about any changes of interpretation from referees at the World Cup. The mass meeting this week of coaches and officials under the direction of IRB boss Paddy O'Brien in Paris was the best way to deal with issues.
"We will have a clear understanding and then we get on with it. You can't then try and gazump your opponents by meeting with the officials or having cheap shots through the papers.
"To me, worry is a waste of emotion. You need to think about the things you can do to fix any problems. You can only control what you do, not what the referee might do. We just do our homework on each particular official, make sure we understand and adapt."
