Steve Hansen tears into ‘ludicrous’ Springboks vs All Blacks incident
- Joe McCarthy delivers brutally honest Aviva Stadium verdict as Ireland lock reveals new look - October 7, 2026
- Munster Rugby appoint New Zealander as interim CEO following Flanagan departure - October 7, 2026
- England great reckons Springboks B team could be the second-best side in the world - October 7, 2026
Not impressed.
Former All Blacks head coach Sir Steve Hansen has torn into the lengthy delay that overshadowed part of the Springboks’ series-clinching victory over New Zealand in Baltimore.
South Africa secured a 43-28 victory at M&T Bank Stadium to wrap up Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry with a 3-1 series win, but one of the more bizarre moments of the final Test came midway through the opening half.
A communications failure involving the match officials resulted in play being halted for almost 15 minutes while attempts were made to resolve the problem.
The timing was particularly unfortunate given the fixture was taking place in the United States, with rugby looking to grow its audience in the country ahead of the 2031 Rugby World Cup.
Hansen believes there should have been a simple contingency plan allowing the referee and his assistants to continue without the technology.
“Why don’t we have protocols?” Hansen said on the Rugby Unity podcast.
“It should just be automatic, right? We’ve got no comms, so we just play on, and guess what? I’ll ref. And if I make a mistake, well, that’ll be it. I make a mistake. If you see some foul play, stick your flag out. I mean, how ludicrous are we?”
The former New Zealand boss was particularly frustrated by how long it took before the decision was eventually made to continue without the usual communications system.
“We look stupid. We really do. We look ridiculous,” Hansen said.
“We played the game for 100 years the other way, and now we suddenly can’t do it. We’ve got to stand around for 10 minutes while nothing goes on; it ruined the big moment.”
Hansen also used the incident to question rugby’s wider reliance on technology, arguing that no system will ever completely eliminate officiating mistakes.
The 2015 World Cup-winning coach believes the sport needs to accept that reality rather than continually interrupting matches in pursuit of perfect decisions.
South Africa ultimately completed a memorable series victory in Baltimore, having recovered from losing the opening Test to win the following three matches against the All Blacks.
