Hansen tight lipped about rugby future

Rugby: The future only goes as far as Sunday's rugby World Cup final against France, according to New Zealand assistant coach Steve Hansen.

The 52-year-old, however, was not predicting the end of life but merely trying to deflect questions about his plans after the World Cup final on Sunday.

Hansen along with Graham Henry and Wayne Smith have created a formidable coaching triumvirate since they were appointed in 2004, winning 87 of 102 tests, though with Smith stepping down afterwards, Hansen has been widely touted as heir apparent to Henry, should the 65-year-old retire after the final.

"It's not even something I'm thinking about," Hansen told reporters on Thursday. "Four years ago we got knocked out in the quarter-final of the World Cup and the three coaches made a decision to try and re-get the job and we did that and were lucky to be re-appointed.

"Last week we were lucky enough to earn the right to turn up on Sunday at 9 p.m. to try and win this thing. At the moment that's the only thing I'm thinking about. I don't really care about what happens after Sunday night."

Hansen's caution about possibly succeeding Henry may be understandable. The trio's re-appointment after losing to France in the 2007 World Cup quarter-finals was controversial, with many in New Zealand supporting Robbie Deans's ticket.

The New Zealand Rugby Union, however, kept them on and Deans moved to coach Australia, who were comfortably taken apart by Hansen's forwards on Sunday in the All Blacks' 20-6 semi-final victory.

"When you're in that situation you don't think about your job, you think about the disappointment about what's happened," said Hansen, referring to the early exit from the 2007 World Cup.

"There wasn't a lot of reflecting on will we get the job back, it was the disappointment of missing out on something that team was capable of doing. They were more than capable of winning the World Cup in 2007."

That disappointment had ultimately spurred the All Blacks on to rectify the mistakes of the past, to first make the final of the tournament in New Zealand and then break a 24-year drought on the Webb Ellis trophy, Hansen added.

"Coaches are like every day people, you learn from your mistakes. We're not immune from them and if you're smart enough to learn from them you grow," Hansen said.

"Last time was our burden to carry, so we did learn some lessons and did implement those and they have brought some success.

"And what happens after the final whistle goes will be determined by that performance we put in during that 80 minutes. We'll discuss those things when it's the right time."