Hansen believes there is a fundamental difference between rugby players from the northern and southern hemispheres.
“I don’t think there’s a difference in skill, but I do think environmentally there’s a difference,” he said.
“As a kid growing up in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and even the south of France, the weather conditions are conducive to being outside all the time, and you’re developing athletic muscle that’s natural.
“Your agility and your guile is being built. In the nations that produce the Lions, the game has issues with weather for large parts of the season. So as children growing you’re not outside as much, climbing trees and doing all the things that build natural muscle. And I think that makes a little bit of a difference.
“It doesn’t mean to say those players can’t have the same skills, but when it’s hosing down or sleeting, it’s not as conducive to running with the ball, and it develops your game in a different way.
“You watch your competitions up there and the game is subtly starting to change. It’s not all crash and bash. And maybe that’s a reflection of the last World Cup, when you didn’t get the results you wanted.
“People have had a look and thought, maybe we need to have a look at how we’re playing.”
Listen to the full interview on the Dawson and Mehrtens Lions Show on BBC Radio 5 live from 20:00 BST on Thursday, 1 June.
