Aussies are pinching our players - Hansen
Oct 22,2012
All Blacks coach Steve Hansen has criticised the Wallabies for poaching New Zealand talent and not doing enough to develop their own players.
Hansen fired a broadside at Australian rugby after Saturday's 18-18 Bledisloe Cup draw in Brisbane in which New Zealand-born centre Mike Harris kicked five penalties for Australia.
Hansen says he doesn't begrudge Harris' decision to sign for the Reds when he was rejected by New Zealand Super Rugby franchises nor his choice to later play for Australia but slammed Aussie administrators for allowing it to happen.
"I am pleased he [Harris] has achieved his dream ... what I find frustrating is that Australia is trying to build their game and put more franchises in place but all they are doing is putting franchises in place and stealing our players," said Hansen.
"They should get their own house in order and develop their own. There must be players there good enough.
"Australia has been a breeding ground for gun players for centuries."
Hansen did not mince his words when replying to a question claiming Harris' defection is a breakdown in New Zealand rugby's systems and is clearly annoyed by the Western Force recently signing ex-All Blacks scrum-half Alby Mathewson from the Blues and promising outside back Jason Woodward from Wellington.
"It's called Australia pinching our players. That's the system breakdown. How many you got going to the Force? It's time you actually develop your own players and your own coaches. (It'd) be good," said the All Blacks coach.
On Monday, 24-year-old Harris replied with wry smile and hinted at hypocrisy from the All Blacks, who have selected many Pacific Islanders over the years.
"I was a bit surprised by Steve's comments," Harris told <i>NZ Newswire.</i>
"It's been going on for as long as rugby has been professional, and maybe even further back as well."
Harris qualifies to play for the Wallabies through an Australian-born grandmother, and insists he has no regrets in wearing the gold jersey.
"As an aspiring rugby player you always want to be playing at the next level and if New Zealand had offered me a Super Rugby jersey things might have been different," he said.
Comments (41)
Oct 22, 2012 at 10:28:50
what a hypocrite......................that is obviously the words of someone who has lost touch with reality......
For years and years ABs have been poaching their poor pacific islander cousins' talent. Aussies now just doing the same....
and as for the number of kiwis residing in Australia.... well get with the program obviously if that many kiwis have migrated here then players also should be able to play here....
typical whinging kiwis..............
btw hansen is starting to show true colors.... knew this would come sooner or later
Oct 22, 2012 at 10:56:31
Gentleman, we are seeing the next P Divy here in Hansen. This man is a clown!
Didnt the AB's a few years back pinch Greg Rawlinson from SA and cap him so he was lost to SA rugby although they didnt really want him? Mexted is always hanging around the club rugby scene in SA trying to poach...
If AB's didnt have such a good poaching system, they would have 22 skinny white guys on match day ;-)
Hansen, dont get ridiculous now! Harris would never have been an All Black! He was not even in a super rugby teams radar! When you select "kiwis" the rest of the world will select their natives..SA do already ;-)
Oct 22, 2012 at 12:07:35
What an idiot. New Zealand would be ranked 8th just above Italy if it wasn't for their "south sea island" influence, ridiculous, over rated c#$%nts. Can't beat a freakin Oz C team and he complains about one player from NZL playing for Oz and lets face it it's not as if Harris is anything special, basically a kicker.
Can't wait for the Boks to be at full strenght again as well as Oz so we can see how "great" this All Black team really is. Go on if they are the best ever after beating te C teams of Oz and SA!!
Oct 22, 2012 at 12:20:57
i cant believe this muppet has the balls to critic on the subject of poaching players. The Kiwis have been doing this for so so long. What a tool. ABs are nothing without their pasifican islaner help> New Zealand, you are a F7%ing joke lol
Oct 22, 2012 at 13:02:49
Their super 15 sides are packed with Islanders. Note how little is done for islander rugby! It suits them.
Case closed.
Oz are going to be formidable next year.
See you all on the ruckers forum!!
Oct 22, 2012 at 15:00:16
Yea fair play to Harris, Hansens comments would be valid if we had jobs for these guys (and jobs they wanted at that) but we don't so what else are they to do. The real culprits and the scourge of all southern hemisphere nations are the French and Japanese clubs not only taking some top teir players that are still in there prime but even giving contracts to club players (esp decent forwards), diluting our provincial comps which of course has a knock on effect.
At the end of the day the likes of deans, Plumbtree (not harris, he's part Aussie anyway) are take taking jobs that leave 1 saffa or aussie in the dole cue and not developing their own will only hinder these country’s in the long run anyway and besides there is no work for them here at present (although I'd rather either of those 2 over Kirwin for my beloved blues!)
As for the this Island thing that keeps coming up, really lads it's not like we opened the doors and said "here come collect a benefit for 20 years just on the off chance one of your kids might play Ruga for us!" For all intents and purpose's New Zealand and esp Auckland are so integrated with PI culture and vice versa that it's natural for these lads to slide on a black jersey and as some of you pricks conveniently keep forgetting, the majority of these lads were born here and the rest did all their schooling here (which is paid for by the taxpayer btw)
So in summery i agree with Hansens message but think he has directed it in the wrong direction, at least with the likes of all these kiwi's being kept in the southern hemisphere it only makes our competitions stronger and gives these guys experience and money which can only be good for nz rugby and the nz economy in the long run.
Oct 22, 2012 at 15:13:18
Mate they where born there because you need them for you AB side you Knob. Face facts pal this is due to years and years and years of poaching. To be perfectly honest l dont give a shit how many foreign players you ASBs have. This will continue as long as when it started from. Born here and schooled. F&4k mate they ARE NOT F&^KING NEW ZEALAND KNOB
Oct 22, 2012 at 15:28:23
Folks this is the age of professional sport....every player has a price and money as a driving force.
Can't blame the islanders for chasing the dollars as well.
So suck it up and get some islanders to SA ...we could surely use them at national level and at the EP Queens.
Oct 22, 2012 at 15:34:34
And what?... I spose Africans arn’t south African right? Why don't the boks f&^k off back to Holland then you stupid prick and all of us antipodean's could f&^k off back to England and really give the bokke a f&^king hiding. I guess trying to have a conversation with a saffa about cultural integration or multiculturalism is just too bigger f&^king ask eh!
Whats your problem anyways man? Bokke are 3rd in the world, that’s not…..bad lolz.
Oct 22, 2012 at 15:43:49
Red..... when are you gonna change your name to beano2?
Oct 22, 2012 at 16:11:53
@allblackand blue. What go back after 100's of years. Get a grip knob head. Enough handbags. Its a soft spot from your reaction. Tosser
Oct 22, 2012 at 16:31:55
Pffft, that all you got boi! time to hang up yer boots i think lol. Softspot? Part of the reason i left NZ is because of the way it has become.
Oct 22, 2012 at 16:47:06
mate i dont give a monkeys. You're most probably an islander yourself trying to worm your way into some other country. All you kiwis seem to have a f&4king identity problem. Boo hoo!!!
Oct 22, 2012 at 17:31:31
Yeah...... I'm an islander in Saudi tryna become an Arab hahaha, unless you lived here you wouldn't know to the extent just how funny that is.
Oct 22, 2012 at 18:30:23
Joke is you mate> Who gives a shit. If you need to be part of something you are not, feel free pal. i know who i am and proud to say i belong to a country . Now go away you are getting f^7king boring now.
Oct 22, 2012 at 18:51:16
You certainly seemed to care what i was and trying to be a part of a couple post ago..What happened?
Simple lesson my bokke friend, don't start somthing you can't finish or know little about yeah.
I sleep very well at night knowing that if i do want to become apart of nz again then I'll never have to worry about a mortage, kinda sad in some ways but true. Who knows maybe deans and plumbtree feel the same.
Oct 22, 2012 at 18:04:16
we south africa are one of the only countrys in the world to keep producing homegrown talent day in day out year after year... where your born and raised is the country you play for.... where is the fucking LOYATY these days....? aussies kiwis even the pommy poms rob players from other countrys... bring in a law to stop the poaching and i guarantee the bokke will be and will stay no.1 in the world...!!!!!!! @ allblackandblue go find yourself another toilet to take a dump on cause the one your on at the moment is filled to the brim...!!!!
Oct 22, 2012 at 18:04:24
you guys are f###ked in the head. this is blown out of context.....again. Hansen is right and wrong. OZ has a serious devolepment problem thats plain to see. No depth, kiwis flock to OZ so of course there going to play for Australia thats there new home. Cant blame them. Hansen is wrong for speaking out better to shut up and act like he couldent give S##t like how the rest of his country feels. Australia will only receive te dreggs of talent from NZ Pacific islanders...NZ is the OZ as OZ is to a new zealander. Better life, job and more MONEY!!!
Oct 22, 2012 at 18:39:42
JD, for why do the sharks, your finalist s15 team have a kiwi coach? Just chill man, Bokke bolix 2007 started it and i'm certainly not going lay down and take that, the guy is completely wrong. How the hell can NZ 'poach' players who originally played for a NZ high school. We grew up with these kids, work with them and even socialise (heaven forbidd). There are even PI in our army, you tell them they can't go fight for all of us...Yeah good luck with that.
Oct 22, 2012 at 18:50:02
Calm down matey. i am winding you up. as i said before i dont care where people are from. Rugby wouldnt be the same between our countries if it wasnt the way it is.
Oct 23, 2012 at 05:05:58
Plumtree and Deans not quite same situation. Plumtree (although from New Plymouth?) played for the sharks for about 10 years (90s), and married a South African (I think), and so his progression to Coaching the sharks is a logial progression of 20 years!
Oct 22, 2012 at 18:50:32
oh by the way its spelt bollox
Oct 22, 2012 at 18:59:10
Yes my friend, that's the bottom of the barrel you just found, but thanks can't edit post here unfortunatly.
Oct 22, 2012 at 21:08:49
mate i actually got it wrong too. Proper spelling is bollocks. Are we good or are you still pissed? i will keep it top rugby pal
Oct 22, 2012 at 21:28:33
bwahahahahahahahahhahaha all the hyenas smelling blood!
Context and perspective boys!
Oct 22, 2012 at 21:40:45
Wow! look at all those trophy's! Yea we good 2007, I enjoy this sort of stuff and get alot of down time lol
Oct 22, 2012 at 21:50:41
well lads onwards to the Autumn internationals. Lets hope we put those Northern Hemisphere Plonkers in the correct pecking order. Oh yes those trophies are shiny but not yours for long
Oct 22, 2012 at 23:03:38
Hakwa, you love your pictures hey. Attached is a picture that all kiwi men play the game for. Its the highest honour. Means more than any trophy. It is the "kiwi" trophy.
Oct 23, 2012 at 00:10:04
Boklogic, you really are an idiot aren't you! Do you even know who that legendary player is holding that innocent lamb?
Oct 23, 2012 at 00:49:18
Yeah. That is Phillipe Saint-Andre and Andrew Mehrtens who was born in SA but left at the age of three and was raised a sheep shagger.
They had a little competition before the world cup final of sheep herding. Mehrtens, naturally, led the contest from start to finish.. (No one will beat a kiwi when it comes to getting physical with a sheep)
Hakwa, the sheep is innocent, you are right. Mehrtens thoughts however...far less ;-)
Oct 23, 2012 at 06:13:02
and spoken like the true idiot and sicko that you are! You seriously need help Bokpsycho!
Oct 23, 2012 at 08:39:19
Come now All Blacknblue. Don't get funny. The first White ancestor of mine arrived in the Cape on 26 January 1709. His mother in law was an African - his wife being the daughter of an African and a Danish slave trader (so-called explorer). That was many years before the POMS set foot in New Zealand.
In fact by about 1800 about 15% of all Whites in fact had ancestry related to that couple (since then that percentage increased substantially) - so by now what links have they got to Holland? Zero my friend - nothing to talk about at all.
In any event - the real reason for people moving around in the global village called Earth centers around money - that applies to all professional and sport spheres - and finger-pointing is totally uncalled for. Accept it - Hansen is talking tripe in this case. As papamoa implies - let sleeping dogs lie
Oct 23, 2012 at 08:53:04
hahahhahahaha you have to love hakwa he clings to his pictures like a child to a safety blanket. A picture for all seasons.
As to the year end tour I think our guys are about kaput - exhaustion and injuries probably mean an ordinary tour! I hope to be proven wrong! All the wrong conclusiosn of course will be drawn. Big question is will SARFU ever learn.
See ya on the Ruckers forum.
Oct 23, 2012 at 09:30:52
Beeno, you're not about to start making excuses in advance for Bok loses in the NH are you? Come on mate, you are above that! Support your Team through thick and thin (ask us - we have been doing it for the past 24years)
Oct 23, 2012 at 10:31:51
The ALL ISLANDERS, full stop.
Check yourself before you wreck yourself Hansen...groot bek.
If you think Hansen has even got half a point then you are a down right fool.
Oct 23, 2012 at 10:40:08
LOL @ allblacknblue throwing the saffa racism kuk around.
I live in NZ and can tell you now that kiwis are some of the most racist pekkerheads I have come across, only its aimed at the asians, islanders etc...
But the most hillarious thing of all is the Maori water rights, man that is a joke!
Claiming rights to 'owning' the water and the money generated from hydro power LMAO!!!
Oct 22, 2012 at 10:19:45
Agree with Harris - hey Hansen, now you know how Samoa, Fiji and Tonga feel mate!!!