Scott Hansen

Scott Hansen takes over as Crusaders head coach for the 2027 season, succeeding Rob Penney. He was the attack architect of the club’s most dominant era.

Scott Hansen becomes head coach of the Crusaders for the 2027 season. The club confirmed in May 2026 that Rob Penney steps down after the 2026 campaign, with Hansen taking over. He has not yet coached a match in the role.

Born in Christchurch in January 1976, he had a very limited playing career — Canterbury from 1994 and just two appearances for the Crusaders in the inaugural 1996 Super 12. He is a coaching-track figure rather than a former professional of note.

The attack architect

He coached at Canterbury, Leicester, Kobelco and the Sunwolves, then Japan and Canada at Test level, before returning as a Crusaders assistant from 2020 to 2023. He owned attack and game-plan design across the franchise’s most dominant era, winning four consecutive titles as an assistant and designing the plan for the 2022 final win over the Blues.

He was All Blacks attack coach under Scott Robertson from 2024 until January 2026, leaving when Dave Rennie brought in his own staff.

Style

A detail-obsessed attack strategist. Robertson called him a one-of-a-kind rugby strategist, and the Crusaders job is his first as a head coach at this level.

As a player Halfback, with a very limited senior career. Canterbury from 1994 and just two appearances for the Crusaders in the inaugural 1996 Super 12. Never capped.