Hansen confirms attempted Crusade

Steve Hansen: The new Crusaders coach?

All Blacks assistant coach Steve Hansen confirmed on Friday he will be applying for the Head Coach role at the Crusaders, with Graham Henry's blessing.

Rumours had been rife all week of Hansen's future as the race for the Crusaders hot seat gathered pace. He was also linked with a job in Wales with the Ospreys.

"Once Robbie had made his decision clearly the job was going to come up, so I started thinking about it then, but only confirmed it in my own mind in the last couple of weeks," Hansen said on Friday to the AAP.

"The closing date was the other day so I thought I had better make a decision."

He added that he needed to take on a Head Coach role to complete his development, in anticipation of his likely accession to the All Blacks' chair when Henry retires - most likely after the 2011 World Cup.

"It's something I would like to do because it's a good challenge and it's something I haven't done for a while. You coach because you enjoy the challenge and it's what I need at the moment," he said.

"Ironically, I would probably end up spending more time at home. That would be a great bonus."

Hansen would expect to retain his All Blacks role while coaching the Crusaders, who are this year's Super 14 champions.

Henry supported Hansen's decision.

"He thinks he'll be a better coach if he coaches more consistently over the year and I'm totally in support of that," he said.