Coaching great Sir Steve Hansen sees a big opportunity before the Black Ferns after appointing Whitney Hansen, his daughter, to the head coaching role for 2026 and \u201927.<\/p>\n
It was announced on Friday that the younger Hansen would leave Matatu and succeed Allan Bunting as head coach of the New Zealand<\/a> national side, becoming the second woman to occupy the top job after Vicky Dombroski in 1994.<\/p>\n The rugby pedigree is evident, and Hansen\u2019s individual coaching journey has seen her join the Black Ferns as an assistant coach for the all-conquering 2022 Rugby World Cup, serve as a head coach for Matatu in Super Rugby Aupiki, and serve as the inaugural head coach for the Black Ferns XV.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re all very proud of her, as we are of all our children,\u201d Steve Hansen told D\u2019Arcy Waldegrave on Newstalk ZB following the announcement.<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s worked really hard, and she\u2019s been pretty deliberate about when she\u2019s wanted to have a crack at the job. She thinks she\u2019s ready, and obviously, other people do too. It\u2019s a wonderful opportunity for her, and as I say, we\u2019re all very, very proud of her.\u201d<\/p>\n While there\u2019s a wealth of knowledge within the family for her to tap into, Whitney\u2019s decision to put her hat in the ring for the Black Ferns role was made without any influence from Steve.<\/p>\n \u201cNo, she\u2019s her own person,\u201d he reflected when asked if Whitney had sought his counsel on the bid. \u201cShe knows what she wants to do and when she wants to do it. I think it\u2019s important that your kids make their own decisions about where they want to go and what they want to do, so we\u2019re just there to support when we need to, and that\u2019s what we\u2019ve done.\u201d<\/p>\n Speaking to the media on Friday, Whitney reflected on her late arrival to rugby and her father\u2019s influence on her career. For Steve, any advice he has to offer is already well-known to the next generation of the Hansen dynasty. While he offered some words of wisdom regardless, he said the insights would be nothing new.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s different to normal in-competition rugby,\u201d he said of the international arena. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot more pressure, a lot more scrutiny, but you\u2019ve got to stick to your own processes and stick to the things that you know work. But also be flexible and trust the people you\u2019ve got working with you. She knows all that anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n The Black Ferns have 11 Test matches in 2026, a full slate that includes historic fixtures in Christchurch\u2019s new One New Zealand Stadium against France<\/a> and in Johannesburg against South Africa<\/a> on the Rugby\u2019s Greatest Rivalry tour.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a demanding, new-look calendar for a first-year head coach, but that\u2019ll suit Hansen just fine, according to her dad.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s not (a soft introduction), but you wouldn\u2019t want there to be, either. If we\u2019re going to do women\u2019s rugby, then we need to support it to the fullest.<\/p>\n