Rugby World Cup 2019: All Blacks coach Hansen made honorary police chief in Beppu

All Blacks coach Steve Hansen was made honorary chief of police of the Japanese city of Beppu, as a sign of respect for both him and his team.

The All Blacks are currently staying in Beppu, located on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu, before their Rugby World Cup match against Canada on Wednesday.

Hansen was decorated with a scarf and cap by Beppu's regular police chief Yufumi Sato.

"Very humbling to be recognised as the chief of police of Beppu for the day," said Hansen. 

"I don't have a clue how I'm going to run the city. I won't be able to do it as well as my colleague, the real chief."

Hansen is no stranger to the force, after serving for six years in the New Zealand Police.

He said serving in the police had been his vocation and he found similarities to his current job as head coach.

"I think the big similarity is you're doing things under pressure.

"You're doing things as a team, you can't be an individual on the police force and you can't be an individual in a game of rugby."

After the short ceremony, Hansen went on patrol across the city, visiting the tourist information centre of Beppu train station and heading down to a commercial centre.

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Reuters