All Blacks head coach Steve Hansen has backed New Zealand Rugby Union's chief executive Steve Tew's stance on going at it alone if a global season isn't put in place by 2020. Hansen didn't rule out the global season, calling for the domestic and international seasons to have more flow. Speaking to Tony Veitch on Newstalk ZB, Hansen said the global season was possible, but negotiating their own tests made sense from an All Blacks perspective. "Just because the England CEO said, "Why do we need to change?," I wouldn't read that there isn't a growing desire to actually have a global season," Hansen said. Tew said when the All Blacks existing test schedule, as decided by World Rugby, ends in 2020, the NZRU will keep their promise to reserve their right to negotiate individual test matches.

Source: New Zealand Herald August 07, 2016 03:22 UTC