The first year head coach of the Matatū will make her debut at the Aupiki level in the head role on Saturday when she brings her side to the south to take on the Blues in the opening round of Super Rugby Aupiki.
Hansen has been involved in the top level of women’s rugby, coaching the Black Ferns XV last year and also being involved with the top national side.
She takes over the head coaching job of the Matatū, knowing the side is being hunted, having won the title last year.
The side will head to Invercargill tomorrow to prepare for Saturday’s game. She will be wanting to start the season against a dangerous Blues team, determined to get one over the champion team.
Hansen said the pre-season was good — far from ideal — but "it is what it is" and the side would be ready to go when the game kicks off on Saturday at 4.35pm.
"I think you could talk to any coach and they would say they would like a couple more games, more trainings but we will be ready to go on Saturday," she said.
"We have been lucky as, across the four teams, we have the biggest retention rate of getting players back from last year. So we have a good group of players coming back, a good core there. We have also got some junior players who have come in and they have really stepped up. They have really challenged the players who have been there before."
The side had a pre-season game against the Hurricanes in Christchurch last Saturday and lost in a close one, 34-33.
Hansen said the game was a good hit-out and there was some good and bad things.
She felt the side has plenty of positives, one being the high number of players coming back from last year — the highest rate of retention of the four sides in the competition.
"I think the depth we have is a real point of difference from our side. We have a squad of 30 and that means seven of them have to miss out every Saturday and that just brings competition. We have plenty of players who can come off the bench and make an impact."
The side had a great skill set and she wanted to use the ball and play attractive rugby as that was what people wanted to watch.
"It doesn’t matter what position you play, whatever is the number on your back, we want our players to throw the ball around. Everyone has to have the ability to show the skills and use them."
She said the women’s game had come a long way in the past five to 10 years in terms of improvement and that needed to continue.
The daughter of former All Black coach Steve Hansen, she said the team was really keen and excited to head to Invercargill.
"It is a really special opportunity. Not a lot of games of women’s rugby at this level have been played down there. They don’t have an NPC team down there. So we have the chance to bring something new to Invercargill and be able to show our skills."
She was expecting the Blues to be very competitive and have some talented players in key positions.
Being a head coach was an honour, she said, one she was enjoying.
"To me the best thing about being a coach is helping players on their journey and watching them grow. Nothing changes there — no matter if you are the head coach or the assistant coach."
She had been in contact with her father about the coming Matatū season, and he has had some words of wisdom.
"He is in Japan at the moment so he has a bit of spare time. He’s there by himself and it is a bit later than here. So we have had a bit of talk, done a few Zoom calls, a few videos."
