Steve Hansen saluted the New Zealand crowd after his team beat Wales 40-17 in a brilliant send off for the men in black.
The All Blacks have now won their past 31 test matches against Wales, extending the longest ever winning streak by one team against specific Tier 1 opponents. Wales have not defeated New Zealand since 1953.
Steve Hansen was involved in his final test match as All Blacks head coach. In 107 matches under Hansen, his record was W93-D4-L10. They established a winning track record against all of their opponents in that span, except the British and Irish Lions (W1-D1-L1).
Ben Smith carving it up – no surprise there. Pure class.
28-10 to the All Blacks over Wales at halftime. #RWC2019 pic.twitter.com/QxPT9DpsOb— RugbyDump (@Rugbydump) November 1, 2019
Steve Hansen gave an interview after the game and it was great to see Hansen finally choke up as the All Black crowd gave him a huge cheer to thank him for his service to New Zealand rugby.
The All Blacks coach was thanked for winning New Zealand two World Cups, and Hansen in response to this lifted his arms to salute the adoring crowd.
Hansen spoke about his team’s work ethic in glowing terms…
<em>”All tournament we have had great defence and we have played good footy all the way through, so one bad day, you lose a game and you miss out. That is what knockout football is about but really proud of the boys today.”</em>
We do have to say that we’re very respectful of the work that Steve Hansen has done. Hansen very rarely shows much emotion so it was brilliant to see this.
He finishes his New Zealand career with a win ratio of over 80% which is incredibly impressive for a 12-year career.
Ben Smith also scored a double against Namibia and on four tries became the All Blacks’ leading try scorer at RWC 2019. With the exception of 1991 and 2019, the All Blacks have always had at least one player scoring at least five tries in their World Cup campaigns.
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