Steve Hansen the next Lions coach?

Having helped the All Blacks to back to back World Cup titles, one as the assistant coach and one as the head coach,  Steve Hansen will finish his remarkable stint with the team after the World Cup in Japan later this year.

Since he became head coach in 2012 the side he has won 85 and his 102 tests in charge of the side with a winning percentage of 90, winning the World Cup and numerous Rugby Championship titles while retaining the Bledisloe Cup.

The only blip in Hansen's record was the drawn British and Irish Lions tour.

Gatland and Schmidt will also step down from their roles at Wales and Ireland respectively with the Gatland keen on a return to New Zealand but has not entirely ruled out the possiblity of coaching the Lions again while also being linked to the England job after the World Cup. 

Schmidt, on the other hand, has stated that he plans to give up coaching altogether and also return to New Zealand.

However, The Times newspaper has reported that the World Cup winning coach could get the opportunity to win a Lions Series with the paper linking him to the head coach role of the British and Irish Lions for the series in South Africa in 2021.

The Times listed four possible candidates for the British and Irish Lions job with three New Zealanders and one Australian on the list – Hansen, Warren Gatland, Joe Schmidt and Eddie Jones.

The appointment is expected to be made before the World Cup with the selected candidate starting in January 2020.