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All Blacks coach Steve Hansen has given his struggling rival Robbie Deans some support though admits the Wallabies look out of answers to New Zealand's dominance.
Speaking on LiveSPORT today, Hansen was quizzed over the pressure on Deans across the Tasman that has risen to such an extent that there is talk of him moving down to the Waratahs coaching position in Super Rugby.
Hansen wouldn't be drawn on what might happen to Deans but he did offer some interesting thoughts in the wake of the All Blacks' 22-nil demolition of the Wallabies last Saturday.
Hansen admitted Deans' incredibly gracious remarks over the All Blacks' performance in the aftermath to the test smacked "a wee bit of Robbie covering his backside".
Was Deans feeling the pressure?
"He's bound to be, he's got to be. I think the players are too," Hansen said, adding that he had noted that atmosphere when he mingled with some of them on the pitch after the match had ended, with Australia suffering their first blanking against the All Blacks in 50 years.
"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."
Hansen acknowledged Deans' credentials as he fights for his job over the remainder of the Rugby Championship. Australia's next test is against the Springboks in Perth on Saturday week.
"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.
"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 No 2 side in the world. He's copping a lot of flack for losing to us, rather than people looking at the bigger picture."
Hansen said his personal rivalry with Deans was more like a "big brother-little brother type of thing".
"He is coaching the Australians and we all love to beat them. At the end of the day we will have a beer and a yarn and it's not as bad as the media make it out to be."
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/i...d-coach-Hansen