Whitney Hansen
Rugby player
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Whitney Hansen (born 4 February 1987) is a New Zealand rugby union coach. She is the current Head Coach of the Black Ferns, New Zealand's women's national rugby union team.
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Rugby career
Playing
Hansen played provincially for Canterbury between 2011 and 2014, she appeared in 14 games for the side as a Front row and Number 8.[1][2] She also played more than 100 games for the University of Canterbury, before making her final appearance for the team in 2018.[1]
Coaching
Hansen's coaching career started in 2017 at the University of Canterbury.[3] In 2018, she coached Canterbury's Under-18 girls’ representative team.[1][4] In 2019, she was part of the coaching staff for the Black Ferns Development XV that competed at the Oceania Rugby Women's Championship in Fiji.[4][5]
She then coached the New Zealand women's Barbarians in 2019 and 2020 in matches against the Black Ferns.[1][4]
In 2022, she was the Black Ferns assistant coach to Wayne Smith during their successful campaign at the delayed 2021 Rugby World Cup that took place in New Zealand.[3][6]
From 2020 to 2023, she was Canterbury’s assistant coach in the Farah Palmer Cup, the team won two titles in three years.[2][3]
She was Matatū's assistant coach under Blair Baxter in 2022, and in 2023 when they won the Super Rugby Aupiki title.[7][8] She then served as Matatū's Head coach from 2024 to 2025.[7][8]
In 2023, she was appointed as the inaugural Head coach of the Black Ferns XV's side.[9][10]
On 19 December 2025, Hansen was announced as the new Head coach of the Black Ferns, and is being appointed through to the end of 2027.[3][2] She is the 13th Head coach of the Black Ferns, and only the second woman to hold the position after Vicky Dombroski in 1994.[3][11] She is set to oversee 11 Tests in her first year followed by the historic British & Irish Lions tour scheduled for 2027.[3][2]
Personal life
She is the daughter of Steve Hansen, who was the All Blacks Head Coach between 2012 and 2019.[6][11] Outside of rugby she works as a teacher.[3][6]