Hansen was full of praise for England and their growth under Jones DAVID ROGERS/GETTY IMAGESIn a verbal volley rare in the international game, Steve Hansen, the All Blacks coach, turned his guns on Eddie Jones and the England team and fired a series of compliments. Hansen said that England’s return to prominence in the international game was “exciting for rugby” and congratulated Jones for “doing a good job”. Last week Jones praised Hansen for his development of the New Zealand squad and tactics in the past three months. This was Hansen returning the compliment. Nevertheless, he did smirk somewhat at Jones’s claim that, thanks to the detailed feedback that he had received from his players on the Lions tour, he had built up a large dossier on the All Blacks, containing “outstanding” information about which of Hansen’s players could…

Source: The Times November 03, 2017 00:04 UTC