THE SEARCH FOR MOBY DICK

REPLACING THE WORLD CLASS JEROME KAINO IN THE ALL BLACKS NO 6 SHIRT HAS BEEN THE NEAR IMPOSSIBLE CHALLENGE. BUT MIGHT THE ANSWER HAVE PRESENTED ITSELF DURING SUPER RUGBY?

It's maybe a good job Steve Hansen retired as All Blacks coach when he did, or he may have become a little like Captain Ahab endlessly and hopelessly chasing Moby Dick.

The white whale in Hansen's case being a bruising, intimidating blindside flanker – a new Jerome Kaino.

Hansen achieved plenty as All Blacks coach almost did the impossible in some regards. He won a World Cup, he won the Rugby Championship six times, presided over a perfect season in 2013, and masterminded a world record run of 18 consecutive victories.

Hansen also found a successor to Richie McCaw both as captain, but more significantly he developed Sam Cane into a world-class openside so he could take over the No 7 jersey in 2016 and make an immediate impact.

There was the small miracle he worked of inheriting just one test ready first-five in 2012, Daniel Carter, and then reaching the 2015 World Cup with six and never letting his stocks of genuinely capable No 10s drop below three.

But the one thing that alluded him was a replacement for Kaino. He couldn't find one and like Captain Ahab, he certainly tried.

He roamed the country in his quest and several times thought he'd harpooned his target only to find he hadn't.

The list of unsuccessful candidates proved long in the end. Between 2012 and 2019 Hansen tried 10 players at blindside in the hope one of them would establish themselves as the long-term successor to Kaino.

Some impressed, plenty didn't and it proved a long and frustrating battle especially as injury and then a Japanese sabbatical saw Kaino miss all of 2012 and 2013, before injury and personal issues curtailed his involvement in 2017 which led to him leaving New Zealand in August 2018.