New Zealand head coach Steve Hansen has said that Johnny Sexton likes to get what he wants but that you have to admire what he has done with Ireland.
New Zealand assistant coach Ian Foster said on Tuesday that Sexton likes to advise the referees after the Ireland fly-half said on Monday that his side will need to be extra vigilant with referee Wayne Barnes this weekend and Hansen seemed to support the theory when asked what he thought of Sexton.
“He’s very competitive,” said Hansen at Thursday’s press conference in Blanchardstown.
“Likes to get what he wants. Likes to drive the team the way he wants to and the way Joe wants him to drive it. You got to admire what he has done. He’s going to be a big man for them.”
Hansen has made just one change from the side that defeated England 16-15 in Twickenham last weekend with Ryan Crotty, the match winner in Dublin in 2013, coming into the starting side for the injured Sonny Bill Williams who misses out with a shoulder issue.
Crotty was the clear choice to replace Williams according to Hansen with his direct running and good decision making ultimately earning him the nod in the midfield while Chiefs centre Anton Lienert-Brown moves onto the bench.
New Zealand had just 34% possession when they last came to Dublin in 2016 and beat Ireland 21-9 at the Aviva Stadium and Hansen is confident that his side can figure things out even if Ireland once again do a better job of holding onto the ball.
“Well, you’ve got to be confident when you’ve had the success that this team has had.
“You have got to keep your self-belief, they’re very good at finding a way when things are not going the way they want them to go.
“What most people don’t understand is that everybody we play has the game of their lives, because we’re the team that they want to beat and they get up for for it.
“So they’re playing 10% better than they would have from the get-go and if they’re a good side playing 10% better, then we’ve got to improve a lot ourselves.
“Sometimes it’s a real battle. This time of year particularly, we’re coming to the end of our season and we’ve got to find ways to get energised and play with real purpose.”
The All Blacks boss added that he has got great admiration for Ireland’s possession-dominated style of play and that in his experience, you have to coach a team based around the athletes that you have and that you can’t implement a style of rugby without the players to support your plans.
“Look, you’ve got to admire what they’re doing. Each coach has got to coach the group of athletes the way that best suits them.
“That was something I found out when I was in Wales. You might have an idea of how you want to play, but if you don’t have the athletes that can do that you have to re-jig your thought process.
“They hang on to the ball for long periods of time, they’re probably the team in World Rugby that hang on to the ball the most.
“When they don’t get what they want with that they’ll take to the air and they’ve got a good kicking game.
“You’ve got to admire all of that, it’s winning and they’ll punish you. They’ll find a weakness. He’s pretty good, Joe, at finding a trick or two so we’ll be expecting one or two coming our way on Saturday.”
