\u201cThere is generational talent coming through in women\u2019s rugby in New Zealand and the new international calendar represents a huge opportunity to further enhance the legacy of the Black Ferns. I can\u2019t wait to get started.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf my appointment can inspire women and girls\u2019 players and coaches in New Zealand, that\u2019s a great result. It is so important that we keep investing in growing great coaches of the women\u2019s game, both female and male. The Black Ferns are the pinnacle in this pathway and I\u2019m looking forward to helping this group reach their full potential.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hansen, who was a Black Ferns assistant coach during the successful Women\u2019s Rugby World Cup 2021 (played in 2022) campaign, will be joined by assistant coaches Tony Christie and Riki Flutey, with the wider coaching and management group to be confirmed in the new year.<\/p>\n
A teacher by trade who represented Canterbury in her playing days, she has held senior coaching roles at every level of the game, from club rugby to the Black Ferns.<\/p>\n
She was Matat\u016b assistant coach of the 2023 Sky Super Rugby Aupiki title-winning side before becoming the club\u2019s head of rugby for the past two seasons. From 2020-2023, she was in charge of Canterbury\u2019s set piece in the Farah Palmer Cup as the team won two titles in three years, before becoming the inaugural head coach of the Black Ferns XV in 2024.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhitney is the right coach at the right time for the Black Ferns and we\u2019re excited about what she will bring to the Black Ferns environment over the next two years,\u201d New Zealand Rugby chair David Kirk said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHer depth of character, commitment, knowledge of the game and understanding of our pathways stand out, and she has a proven track record at every level.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Black Ferns have a challenging and exciting 11-test schedule in 2026 and we firmly believe Whitney is the person to lead the programme through what will be a period of significant growth for women\u2019s rugby in New Zealand and globally.\u201d<\/p>\n
The selection panel that appointed Hansen was made up of New Zealand Rugby general manager professional rugby & performance Chris Lendrum, NZR head of women\u2019s high performance Hannah Porter, NZR board member and former All Black Keven Mealamu, All Blacks assistant coach Jason Ryan and New Zealand Rugby Players\u2019 Association representative James Parsons.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhitney\u2019s vision for the Black Ferns and the pathways for players is outstanding,\u201d Lendrum said. \u201cIt is clear from the results she has achieved and the feedback from those who have worked with her that she is the best person to take on the Black Ferns head coach role.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are excited about what Whitney will bring to the role and the team of coaches and management she will assemble in 2026 for the start of an exciting new era for international women\u2019s rugby.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cThere is generational talent coming through in women\u2019s rugby in New Zealand and the new international calendar represents…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":190525,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[18516,74,696,17623,806,1558,682,7022,1320,10541,27949,106,111,139,69,213,210,56180],"class_list":{"0":"post-190524","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-18516","9":"tag-after","10":"tag-announced","11":"tag-appointed","12":"tag-as","13":"tag-been","14":"tag-being","15":"tag-black","16":"tag-coach","17":"tag-ferns","18":"tag-hansen","19":"tag-head","20":"tag-new-zealand","21":"tag-newzealand","22":"tag-nz","23":"tag-sports","24":"tag-through","25":"tag-whitney"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=190524"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190524\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/190525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=190524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=190524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=190524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}