Rugby Championship
Hansen leaps to Deans' defence
ESPN Staff
August 29, 2012
Wallabies head coach Robbie Deans faces the media, Australia press conference, Rugby World Cup, Auckland, New Zealand, October 17, 2011
Robbie Deans is a man under pressure © Getty Images
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All Blacks boss Steve Hansen has defended the under-fire Wallabies coach Robbie Deans.

Hansen's side won both of their Tests against Australia over the past two weekends with the results piling the pressure on Deans. Reports on Tuesday suggested that Deans was set for the sack but this was quickly denied by the Australian Rugby Union. And Hansen believes that Deans should not completely shoulder the blame for the Wallabies' poor form.

"Just because Australia aren't winning against us doesn't make Robbie a bad coach. He had a great record with the Crusaders, where he obviously had a really good team," Hansen told LiveSPORT Radio. "I've spent a lot of time coaching with him, he's not a bad coach. Any team that gets his services are going to benefit from it.

"They're still the number two side in the world. He's copping a lot of flak for losing to us, rather than people looking at the bigger picture."

The All Blacks hammered Australia on Saturday and managed to prevent them scoring a point in their Bledisloe Cup clash for the first time since 1962. And when Hansen was asked whether his opposite number at the Wallabies would be feeling the pressure, he was forthright in his answer.

"He's bound to be, he's got to be. I think the players are too," Hansen said. "They had the same look in their faces. They were flabbergasted, where do we go next, what do we do next?

"It's not a great position to be in when you are like that, because if you've got no answers, you can't actually improve."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

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