Mischievous All Black boss Hansen takes aim at French

What was Steve Hansen thinking?

The question, posed by one of the many French journalists present at a monstrous media gathering at Swansea RFC’s quaint old St Helen’s grounds yesterday, was innocuous enough. Something along the lines of the World Cup history between France and the All Blacks.

Everyone knew what he was getting at. Twice, in 1999 and 2007, France have claimed the unlikeliest of victories over New Zealand at this tournament and maybe that was it. Maybe the All Black head coach was just spooked into what some would call a ‘brain fart’.