Quake rocks Wallaby, All Black teams
Mon, 06 Sep 2010 08:25
Steve Hansen: New Zealand assistant coach. (c) Gallo
Australia coach Robbie Deans and New Zealand assistant Steve Hansen were both affected by the weekend's magnitude 7.1 earthquake which hit New Zealand's Canterbury province.
The historic Home Bush mansion, Canterbury home of Deans' family for more than six generations, was effectively shaken apart by the quake and is likely to be demolished.
The homestead was occupied by the family of Deans' second cousin Jim Deans at the time of the quake.
The Deans family were among the first Europeans to settle in Canterbury, building their first house on the province's plains in 1843 and pioneering sheep farming in the region.
Robbie Deans, his brother Bruce and great-uncle Bob all played for the All Blacks.
Hansen's family home at Tai Tapu in rural Canterbury was also extensively damaged by Saturday's tremor.
Hansen, co-coach Wayne Smith and eight Canterbury-based All Blacks were all unharmed in the quake, though most reported damage to their properties.
Coach Graham Henry's 94-year-old mother lives in Christchurch near the quake's epicentre, but was also unharmed.
Hansen's house sustained the most serious damage among the eight players and team management affected by the disaster.
Smith was relieved only a couple of cracks were evident on his property, while those nearby were not so fortunate.
Like the rest of Christchurch and the surrounding area, he was shaken awake and once he found his bearings headed for a doorway - remembering those earthquake warnings taught years ago when he was in school.
Richie McCaw, Kieran Read, Brad Thorn, Sam Whitelock, Corey Flynn, Colin Slade and the Franks brothers Ben and Owen are based in Christchurch along with Smith, Hansen, team manager Darren Shand and doctor Deb Robinson.
Deans also lodged nervous calls from South Africa, after word filtered through of the tragedy in his home town.
"I checked with my son, he was pretty relaxed and not too concerned. They'll all good," Deans said.
Relieved his family confirmed they were safe, Deans revealed the historic family homestead at Darfield, above the earthquake's epicentre, would need to be rebuilt.
"There's been a fair bit of material damage but you can replace that," he said.
SAPA-AP & NZPA
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