All Blacks coach Steve Hansen believes his new coaching staff and selectors will keep the World Cup winners "ahead of the pack" as they enter a new era.
Former Chiefs coach Ian Foster was yesterday morning named assistant coach and All Blacks great Grant Fox a selector. Former Hurricanes assistant Brian "Aussie" McLean was named defence coach and a skills coach will be added to the staff in the new year.
Hansen, who was given the top job last week after assisting Graham Henry for eight years, has a long association with Foster and McLean - going back to his club rugby days when he and McLean were in the same side.
They coached Canterbury in 2001, winning the NPC title and retaining the Ranfurly Shield.
At a media conference at Rugby Park in Christchurch yesterday Hansen (52) said that association was "irrelevant" when it came to picking his team.
"Aussie and I go way back but that's irrelevant as to why he's in this job. After a lot of research and looking both in New Zealand and externally, these were the guys that fit the criteria we were after.
"They'll come in with some fresh ideas, obviously. But the team has been reasonably successful - 86% winning - so not a lot of changes need to be made.
We just have to re-jig it a little bit and make it better.
"We've got to make sure we stay ahead of the pack, be innovative. But at the same time, you don't want to go and throw the baby out with the bath water."
Hansen said McLean, a close friend who was born in Australia but raised in Wellington and Christchurch, would pick up analysis done by Henry as well as former assistant coach Wayne Smith's defensive responsibilities.
"Aussie is very strong in analysis and he understands attack well. If you understand attack well, you understand defence well. To me, it was a logical fit."
McLean accepted that in following Henry and Smith, he had "pretty big shoes to fill".
The diminutive coach said: "I'm thrilled to be given an opportunity like this. I feel quite privileged and humbled, but I think I can do a good job.
"It's another rugby team - it's a pretty special one, but it's another rugby team. And the game isn't a rocket science."
McLean said he and Hansen shared similar philosophies on how the game should be played.
Hansen described Foster as "a good man manager and strategical planner", and played down criticisms that the Chiefs have failed to win any Super 15 titles, despite Foster being at the helm for seven years and more than 100 matches.
"There's no doubt he's a good backs coach," Hansen said.
"He's brought through a lot of All Blacks. He may not have won too many championships, but not a lot a of our current Super 15 coaches have."
The biggest talking point in his selections has been the appointment of former Sky TV commentator and former All Blacks first-five eighth Fox.
But Hansen said a detached view would give them "balance".
"In Foxy, we've got someone who is very analytical and will make a great selector. His role is to be that third selector, be a little bit provocative, and question why we're doing things. It allows us to sit back and look at the forest as a total and say, well, we need to look at this." Meanwhile, All Black physiotherapist Peter Gallagher, from Dunedin, has signed a two-year contract with the All Blacks but is still waiting to hear whether he will be confirmed as part of the support team.
Gallagher said he was keen to continue in the job, which he started in 2004.
The assistants
- Ian Foster -
All Blacks assistant coach Ian Foster (46) was Chiefs coach from 2004 to 2011, taking the team to the semifinals in his first year and the final in 2009.
He was co-coach of the Junior All Blacks from 2005 to 2007, during which time the team won a two-test series against Australia A, the inaugural IRB Pacific Five Nations tournament and the expanded Pacific Nations Cup. He also co-coached an All Blacks trial team in 2005.
Foster is the most-capped Waikato player (148 games) and played 28 games for the Chiefs.
- Aussie McLean -
All Blacks defence coach Brian "Aussie" McLean (58) is one of New Zealand's most well-regarded coaches. He has had more than 20 years' coaching experience from club to international level, most recently as assistant coach of Samoa at the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
He led the New Zealand under-19 team at five world championships, including three victories, won titles with Canterbury in 2001 and 2004, provided analysis and coaching for the Crusaders (1999 to 2000) and was assistant coach with the Hurricanes (2006-2008).
- Grant Fox -
All Blacks selector Grant Fox (47) is an All Blacks great. He played 189 matches for Auckland from 1982 to 1993, scoring 2746 points, and 46 tests for the All Blacks from 1985 to 1993. He was part of the 1987 Rugby World Cup-winning All Blacks side and finished his All Blacks career with a then-record 645 points.
He has remained prominent in rugby since his playing days: he has been on the coaching staff of Auckland and the Blues, as well as a Blues board member; and most recently was a highly-respected comments man on Sky Television.
• Ian Foster went to Taieri High School in the early 1980s, while Steve Hansen went to the same school in the mid 1970s.
They were not at the school at the same time.
Hansen played for the first XV as a centre, but moved to Christchurch after he left school.
Foster's father was a Presbyterian minister in the town and the family left after Foster (46) had spent a couple of years at the high school.
Foster made his name with Waikato, playing more than 100 games for the province, and then coaching the Chiefs for more than eight years.
- Kurt Bayer/ additional reporting Steve Hepburn
