Shaken, rattled - but Hansen ready to roll

BY TOBY ROBSON

Steve Hansen need not have apologised.

The All Blacks test side is usually named on a Tuesday and the forwards coach usually has his mobile phone off.

Neither occurred yesterday as Christchurch's earthquake made its effects felt across the Tasman, where it has pervaded the buildup to Saturday's Tri-Nations finale at ANZ Stadium.

Nobody in the All Blacks camp has been more affected than Hansen, whose late arrival in Sydney has delayed the naming of the test side until tomorrow.

"I just rolled off the side of the bed," Hansen began, before his ring-tone cut short his description of where he was when the quake hit.

"Hold on, that's probably my engineer calling to tell me whether my house is stuffed. It is. Do you mind if I take this?"

Five minutes later and his worst fears were confirmed. "But the family is OK, so that's the main thing," he said.

The 7.1 earthquake is clearly weighing on the collective minds of the All Blacks camp, particularly the large Canterbury contingent.

"The hardest part is when you know there are more earthquakes," Hansen said.

"There were two last night, one was 5.6, so that frightens you because you are not with the people that you love and care about and you are over here feeling pretty helpless."

While the homes of the players escaped the worst of the damage, Hansen was not so lucky.

"From my point of view, the house is knackered.

"It's a matter of relocating a family and my father lives with me as well, so you have to find somewhere for him and make sure he's OK – he's 77. That's the reason I came a day later."

Hansen had considered staying in Christchurch but, like his players, had consulted with family and decided to complete his All Blacks duties.

"Until you are actually in it you don't appreciate the magnitude of the damage and the trauma a lot of people have been through.

"The place has really been wiped out.

"I've been amazed by it really. My place, I've got big cracks in it that are probably six or seven feet wide and four or five feet deep."

Hansen said the emotion of the week would add an edge to the test. "We realise we've also got a job to do for the All Blacks and New Zealand. Hopefully, if we put in a good performance, we can put a smile on some faces back home.

"It's been talked about [as a team] and everyone's been supportive. It's a pretty close-knit group, it's just one of those times where you have to pick up the phone and realise when you get home you will have a big phone bill, but who cares."

On the rugby front, the All Blacks trained for an hour and a half at Leichhardt Oval yesterday, the sun-soaked home of Wests Tigers league star Benji Marshall.

Hooker Keven Mealamu sat out the session as a precaution to rest his sore calf, but was expected to resume training today.

- © Fairfax NZ News