When Steve Hansen and Steve Tew began getting paid by the Canterbury Rugby Football Union (CRFU) almost 25 years ago, the likelihood of either receiving a New Year Honour seemed remote, if not impossible.
In the mid-1990s they were just two ambitious men trying to carve out careers in the fields of rugby administration and coaching.
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All Black coach Steve Hansen, Crusaders coach Scott Robertson, Crusaders captain Kieran Read and NZ Rugby CEO Steve Tew pictured in Christchurch in the summer of 2019.
Their immediate goals were to create healthy balance sheets, and win games. To put it kindly, they were hardly household names.
And now, both have been honoured, not just by rugby, but their country.
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Steve Hansen, long serving World Cup-winning coach, is now Sir Steve, as was his coaching mentor Sir Graham Henry before him.
Steve Tew was made Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, one of the country's higher honours, for services to rugby and sports administration.
Tew was New Zealand Rugby general manager from 2001, deputy chief executive from 2003 to 2007, then chief executive until standing down in December.
Under his leadership NZR significantly improved its revenues. Hansen and Tew ensured the organisation and the All Blacks, New Zealand's flagship rugby team, were respected on a global scale.
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Steve Hansen talks to Steve Tew at Westpac Stadium in Wellington in 2017.
Hansen was involved with the All Blacks for 16 years, the last eight as head coach. A shock 19-7 defeat to England in the World Cup semifinal in Yokohama ruined the perfect ending to his stint.
The same could be said for Tew. He would have wanted to exit with the Webb Ellis Cup still in NZ Rugby's possession and he, as much as anyone, would have felt a great deal of sympathy for Hansen, having formed a close bond with his coach since they worked in Christchurch in the 1990s.
STUFF
Steve Hansen (left) and Steve Tew had been a powerful combination for NZ Rugby in recent years.
Tew began his job as the chief executive of the CRFU and the Crusaders, one of five teams from New Zealand that would participate in the newly-formed Super Rugby competition in 1996, having previously worked as the Hillary Commissioner general manager.
Hansen was soon appointed as the CRFU's academy manager by Tew; the former also coached Canterbury to national provincial titles in 1997 and 2001, and served as an assistant to the Crusaders during their title-winning seasons in 1999 and 2000.
PHIL WALTER/GETTY IMAGES
Steve Hansen and Steve Tew began working together at Canterbury and later linked up at NZ Rugby.
Although he moved to Wales in late 2001, Hansen returned to be Henry's assistant in 2004 and when the latter retired he was promoted to the job he had coveted.
The highlight of Hansen's career as All Blacks coach was the triumph over Australia in the World Cup final in London in 2015, ensuring the team became the first to defend the Webb Ellis Cup, and the retention of the Bledisloe Cup during his 16 years with the team would have been a source of great pride.
There were lows. Watching the All Blacks get king hit by England in Yokohama, and the series draw to the British and Irish Lions in 2017, were significant blows to the ego.
Highlights of his 12-year tenure include the staging of the World Cup in New Zealand in 2011, and the British and Irish Lions tours in 2005 and 2017.
The buck stopped with Tew. Being in charge of an organisation that retained its top players despite the attempts of wealthy foreign clubs to add them to their squads, and negotiated fresh broadcasting agreements were notable achievements.
Humbled to be acknowledged, Tew insisted the game still had plenty to do as former All Black Mark Robinson takes over as CEO
"I leave very satisfied but the job is not finished that's for sure," Tew told Stuff.
"We have achieved a lot of things that we hoped to, and in some cases surpassed things, but there is still plenty there for the team to do."
With two World Cup wins, Bledisloe Cup dominance and other test, sevens and Super Rugby silverware making the NZR trophy cabinet bulge, Tew said "the on-field highlights are obvious for people to see".
Some of his biggest satisfaction came in dealing with difficult areas that enveloped the sport.
"The way the game can come together at times when it needs to has been a highlight for me," he said.
"I think of the Crusaders around the time of the earthquake. They kept that community's spirits up despite all the aftershocks and having to play all the games away ... that was pretty special.
"The work we have done since the tough period in 2016 when we had behavioural problems that got highlighted ... I think the response to that has been outstanding.
"The opportunity for the game to actually genuinely change some of those dark side of statistics is real. If the team can keep driving those programs around mental health, violence, drugs and alcohol education and deal with some of those not so good things about this country and our society, then we will be better for it."
When Tew announced in June he would be standing down, Hansen thanked him for "all the support and wisdom he has given me throughout a long association".
"He gave me my first job as director of the Canterbury rugby academy and then various coaching roles following on from that," Hansen said.
"But he's been much more than just a great boss - he's been a very supportive friend - and I'm immensely proud to call him a mate."
Tew championed women's rugby, leading to robust domestic competition and paid professional contracts.
He led NZR's diversity and inclusion programme, including the 2016/2017 Respect and Responsibility Review, and NZ Rugby was the first national sporting organisation to receive Rainbow Tick Certification.
He was appointed to the Board of Rugby World Cup Inc in 2018 and the World Rugby Council in 2007.
Tew is proud of the way New Zealand has managed to contain the player drain with innovation and flexibility around contracts and an ability to retain the biggest names in the game to act as a magnet for the next tier of talent.
While Hansen heads away to the Japanese club scene, Tew said he would take a break now to consider his future, which could involve directorships or project work initially.
"I have a couple of conversations under way. Nothing that is definite or urgent."
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December 30, 2019 at 11:00PM
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It's a rugby Knight, with former All Blacks coach now Sir Steve on the honours list - Stuff.co.nz
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