Crusaders appoint former All Blacks assistant Scott Hansen

The Canterbury Crusaders have appointed former All Blacks assistant coach Scott Hansen as their new head coach, effective for the 2027 season. He will succeed Rob Penney, who will conclude his three-year tenure after the 2026 Super Rugby playoffs.

Penney, who took over the Crusaders in 2024, guided the team to a Super Rugby title in 2025, the franchise's eighth championship in nine years. He stated that it had been an honor to serve as head coach and that the time was right to step away after three seasons. The announcement of Hansen's hiring was reportedly made public before the franchise's preferred timeline, leading to a brief and terse media appearance by Penney where he expressed disappointment that the news had surfaced before the end of the current season.

Hansen is a former Crusaders player from the club's inaugural 1996 season and served as an assistant coach with the team from 2020 to 2023. He then moved to the All Blacks as an assistant coach under Scott Robertson in 2024. Following Robertson's dismissal as All Blacks head coach in January, Hansen was not retained by new head coach Dave Rennie, who selected his own coaching staff. Crusaders chief executive Colin...