Hansen vows to leave Welsh in better shape

STEVE HANSEN believes he will leave Welsh rugby in better shape than he came to it 18 months ago, but insisted the hard work must continue to make them a force to be reckoned with again.

Hansen took charge of Wales when fellow New Zealander Graham Henry resigned halfway through the 2002 Six Nations campaign. However, Hansen always maintained he would return home to be with his family when the current deal expired next April.

And yesterday the 44-year-old, who has two teenage daughters living in New Zealand, confirmed he intended to honour that commitment.

“The circumstances of wanting to go home haven’t changed. From the outset I made it clear that I would do the job for two-and-a-half years and that remains the case.

“My main objective was to try and improve the team and leave those things in Welsh rugby that I have some control over in a better shape than I found them. The fact that there are signs that we are moving forward hasn’t changed that either.”

Wales have won only nine of 26 tests under Hansen, and suffered a humiliating whitewash in the 2003 Six-Nations.

However, Hansen’s men enjoyed an encouraging World Cup in Australia where they produced inspired performances against New Zealand and eventual winners England.

And the former police officer believes the foundations are now in place for Wales to go on and build a squad capable of challenging for top honours once again.

He added: “We made a lot of progress, but th1ere is still a lot of work to be done. We showed the type of rugby we want to play in those last games.

Hopefully we have got people in Wales excited about rugby again and that will help push things forward.”

Hansen took on his first coaching role with Canterbury in 1996, where he had spent 15 years as a player. He guided them to the National Provincial Championship title in 1997 and again in 2001, as well as several successful defences of the Ranfurly Shield before linking up with Canterbury Crusaders and winning the Super 12 title twice.

Hansen was in charge of New Zealand A during their 2000 tour to Europe but maintains he is not interested in taking on the job of All Blacks head coach just yet.

Llanelli Scarlets coach Gareth Jenkins and Newport-Gwent Dragons coach Mike Ruddock will be seen as the leading candidates.