he made mistakes that benefited the wee abs. Hansen felt Roman should not feel bad about it as these things happen and no ref is perfect. Hansen complimented Roman on what he regarded as a fine perfomance and castigated those who suggest tests refs are incompetent.
Asked why so many refs were confessing the errors of their ways to him Hansen suggested he was a mentor and godfather figure to most test refs. Refs needed his support and for the good of the game he always encouraged them to make the best decisions - as had Roman done in the test just concluded.
Hansen felt his position vis a vis the ref community of godfather status had arisen naturally as he was the current nz coach. As such he was acknowledged as being the most knowledgeable person in rugby who only the most boorish boer would ever question.
Being the coach of the unbeata ble All Blacks gives me huge status in the eyes of all refs and its quite understandable really said Hansen. Retired refs like Kaplan should stay retired and not make fools of themselves when they were out of touch with the modern game.
