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Steve Hansen cuts a more-than-relaxed figure as he looks out pensively over Lake Wanaka.

The bright sun of a beautiful New Zealand spring morning reflects sharply off the water. In the distance, the clouds above Mount Alta almost seem to kiss its snow-covered peak.

Dressed in a sleeveless checked shirt – there is no need for a jumper or coat – former All Blacks head coach and double World Cup winner Hansen admits he is enjoying semi-retirement.

Who can blame him? In years gone by, Hansen would have been spending this time of year in Europe with New Zealand, more often than not wiping the floor with the best northern hemisphere rugby has to offer.

Now, things are different. Hansen’s days are spent playing golf and indulging in his passion for horseracing. He is a part-owner of superstar gelding and Royal Ascot winner Nature Strip.

Life is peaceful in Wanaka. The setting is quite stunning.

‘It’s hard not to enjoy this place,’ Hansen told Sportsmail. ‘Am I missing the All Blacks? You miss the camaraderie of the players and staff and you miss the big occasions, but I don’t miss the politics.

‘I’m quite happy to be out of that. I think my coaching days are over. 

‘I mean, 20 years is enough, isn’t it?’

Hansen might now be removed from international rugby’s frontline, but he remains one of the game’s heavyweight figures. When Hansen speaks, people listen.

Over the course of an hour at Upper Clutha Rugby Club, the now 63-year-old is unsurprisingly not afraid to tackle his sport’s big issues. Rugby’s concussion crisis, the growing influence of private equity, his old sparring partner Eddie Jones and Saturday’s crunch clash between England and his old side New Zealand are all discussed. Everything is on the table. Hansen doesn’t hold back.

‘The game is at a bit of a crossroads,’ he said. ‘I’m not slow in letting people know my opinion and sometimes that gets me into a lot of trouble. I’ll probably get into a lot of trouble with World Rugby by saying red cards aren’t the answer, but that’s what I firmly believe.‘

If I believe in it, then I’m going to fight for it. The game is more important than all of us and we’ve got to keep it alive and safe for the people playing it.

‘I don’t want to paper over the problems. I want to rip the wall down and rebuild it.’ Hansen spent 15 years with the All Blacks, seven of which came as head coach. His penultimate game in charge was a 2019 World Cup semi-final defeat by England.

Jones’ men got the better of Hansen and New Zealand that day, emerging 19-7 winners after producing one of the best performances in recent English rugby history. The success was undoubtedly a highlight of Jones’ time in charge.

England will face New Zealand for the first time since that Yokohama game at Twickenham on Saturday.

'Are England good enough to win the World Cup next year? They certainly are. They were just about good enough to win it last time,’ said Hansen, who has ruled himself out of succeeding Jones as England boss and believes Leicester’s Steve Borthwick should be the man appointed.

‘Eddie is a great coach. You only have to look at the teams he’s coached and how they’ve always improved. England jointly hold the world record with the All Blacks for 18 wins in a row.

‘You don’t do that without being a good team and a good coaching crew. Eddie is not shy on experimenting and I think that’s sometimes seen as nuts by people in England. But people have to understand that if you want to build depth, you have to throw caution to the wind sometimes.

‘Eddie doesn’t tolerate fools too well and he’s short sometimes. Some people don’t like that but I’ve always found him great. England would be so much stronger if their clubs and the RFU could work together to look after the top players physically. They ask them to do a lot and they pay them a lot for it, but you have to look after the old goose that lays the egg. Otherwise, it’ll stop laying.

’After a season dominated by financial chaos at club level and the disappearance of two sides in Worcester and Wasps, English rugby is in a state of flux. The goose might not have totally stopped laying, but it certainly has its problems. Victory for Jones’ men over the All Blacks would be a much needed fillip for England after two underwhelming Six Nations campaigns and a poor autumn-opening defeat by Argentina. There is now less than a year to go until the next World Cup in France. The countdown is on.

‘The big difference with this World Cup is the All Blacks aren’t the No 1 dog in the house at the moment. It will take some pressure off them,’ added Hansen, who still works as a part-time consultant for Japanese side Toyota Verblitz.

‘However, it will put a lot more on the other teams. Ireland are No 1 at the moment. Their World Cup record isn’t great. They’ll be feeling that. France are at home. Their World Cup results haven’t been great. They’ll be feeling a lot of pressure. That pressure is just going to build.

‘England have had some success. They’ve been in three finals and won one and lost two so they’ll be beginning to think they’ve got to win another one.’

In Hansen’s time working first under Sir Graham Henry and then as head coach, the All Blacks were the game’s dominant force. They won back-to-back World Cups in 2011 and 2015. Now, under the guidance of Hansen’s former right-hand man Ian Foster, New Zealand’s aura of invincibility has slipped somewhat. They were beaten at home by Ireland this summer.

But since then, their response has been impressive.

‘Not being No 1 creates a hunger and being hungry at a World Cup is good,’ said Hansen. ‘Success dulls hunger. In 2007 we feared whether we had the hunger to win. After such a poor result everyone was so hungry to be successful and we won the next two.

‘Going into this one we’re not the current champions and we’ve had some adversity in the last 12 months which is tough to take but also helps build a team that wants to prove to everybody they can still do it. I think New Zealand are going to be dangerous – more so than some people think.