Steve Hansen

New Zealand coach Steve Hansen believes Northern Hemisphere rugby could be on the road to nowhere unless attitudes change.

England are still the only non-Southern Hemisphere nation to have won the Rugby World Cup since the competition was launched in 1987. And with New Zealand, South Africa, Argentina and Australia at the top of the betting for this year’s competition, the Webb Ellis Cup will stay in the Southern Hemisphere.

Hansen spent 2 years in charge of Wales in the early 90’s and experienced the difficulties that still exist between the owner-led regions and the Welsh Rugby Union. It is the same story in England, and in France too.

On the back of Saturday’s resounding quarterfinal victory over the French, and with England and Wales already out, Hansen seized his moment to speak out.

When asked about the situation in France and the ongoing problems between the Top 14 clubs and the Fédération Française de Rugby (FFR), he said: “It’s difficult if you’re not on the same page and I’m not sure whether in France the 2 organisations are on the same page.

“You need to have the same goals and the same vision. There are a lot of foreign players in the Top 14 and that means there are a lot of French players who are not getting the chance to grow and develop.

“It’s not my country and I shouldn’t say too much, but if you want to be successful at international level you have to be united from the top down.”

The number of foreign players who feature in the Top 14, the English Premiership and the Pro12 in Wales, Scotland, Ireland and Italy appears to increase year on year.

Hansen said: “You only have to look at the soccer model that rugby up here follows. England haven’t won anything for years, yet they have the best Premier League in the world. Most of the best players are playing in that league, but it doesn’t reflect on the international team.

“I think we have got our model right. We are all on the same page and we want to support international rugby and all head in the same direction.

“I am not sure up here, if that’s the case.”

Meanwhile, New Zealand will wait until tomorrow to assess the fitness of Wyatt Crockett who limped out of Saturday’s quarterfinal with a groin injury.

Hansen said: “The doc wants another day before making any decisions and he will get that. He has made some world class decisions so far, so we back him to do that again this week.

“We are not panicking about it, we will just wait to see what happens. We certainly haven’t contacted any potential replacements yet.”

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