Steve Hansen labels McCaw as “the best rugby player the world has ever seen” and reveals the secret he kept from him

April 20, 2020
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Ultimate Rugby

Former All Blacks head coach Steve Hansen has labelled former All Blacks great Richie McCaw as “the best rugby player the world has ever seen”.

Hansen made the statement in a wide-ranging interview with WalesOnline, where he reflected on his tenure with the All Blacks and his time in Wales.

Hansen's test coaching career included four World Cups, with two as an assistant coach to Graham Henry before he took over as head coach for the 2015 triumph and 2019 third-placed finish.

In 2011, the All Blacks hosted the Rugby World Cup once and a faced plenty of adversity on their way to breaking their World Cup drought having not won the competition since the first edition back in 1987.

Speaking on the tournament Hansen revealed that he wasn’t aware of the extent of Richie McCaw's injury because the staff did not want to know while McCaw himself did not want to reveal the extent.

“The whole nation was desperate to win it, we were desperate to win it.

“Then we had some injuries. We lost four No 10s and our skipper (Richie McCaw) had two broken bones in his foot. We didn’t know they were broken because we didn’t ask. We didn’t want to know and he didn’t want to say.

“What he did in that tournament was phenomenal. Mentally, he would be the toughest bloke I have had anything to do with in my coaching career.

“I think he’s the best rugby player the world has ever seen.”

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