A defensive Steve Hansen rejected any suggestion that his New Zealand side’s tackling was dangerous in their 21-9 victory over Ireland at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday evening.
The All Blacks coach saw his side concede 14 penalties, while Aaron Smith and Malakai Fekitoa were both sin-binned in the win.
However, Hansen attributed a number of questionable tackles to the tempo of the modern game.
“This is a moving game and the first one he got penalised, it was a head clash, and there were no arms involved at all,” Hansen said of Sam Cane’s match-ending challenge on Robbie Henshaw.
“The one on the far side (Fekitoa on Simon Zebo) was obviously a little high and was across the shoulder.
“I don’t think there was any malice in it.
“Rugby is a shifting game.
“When you’ve got ball carriers that move as well as the Irish do, they’re going to change direction.
“People are going to sometimes make mistakes and sometime people fall into tackles, too.”
Steve Hansen gives his post-match verdict to @rterugby: "Do you want me tell you we're a dirty side?" https://t.co/pb0YIIqZd7
— RTÉ Rugby (@RTErugby) November 19, 2016
When pressed further on the subject of New Zealand’s tackling by RTÉ Sport’s Clare MacNamara, Hansen became vexed.
“I’m not sure where you’re going with this,” he snapped. “Do you want me to tell you that we’re a dirty side or something? Is that what you’re saying?
“I’ve talked about it. Do you want to talk about something else now?”
After the defensive frailties Ireland managed to expose in the win in Chicago earlier in the month, Hansen was particularly pleased by how his side performed when they were on the back foot, which was the majority of the time due to Ireland’s advantage in possession.
“We had to get our defence right and stop them scoring five tries, so it was nice to be able to keep them scoreless,” he said. .
“That was the difference in the game - three tries to none.”
