Steven Hansen is set to step away from coach the All Blacks after next year's World Cup in Japan to take up a newly created role at New Zealand Rugby.
According to Irish Test back-rower Alan Quinlan, Hansen will become the NZR's Director of Rugby after 2019.
Quinlan, who played 27 tests for the Irish between 1999 and 2008, discussed the NZR's succession plan involving Hansen after speaking to former All Blacks Justin Marshall and Jeff Wilson, who claimed to have insight on the coach's future.
"I spoke to Jeff Wilson last week and I was asking him and Justin Marshall: 'What's the talk back home in New Zealand?'," Quinlan said on the On The Ball AM show.
"Both of them were saying there's no major talk of Joe Schmidt coming back. They know what he's achieving and people know he's doing really well in Ireland. The talk is that Steve Hansen is going up as a director of rugby and then there will be a possibility of a [vacant head coach] position."
Schmidt announced earlier this week he was "stepping away" from coaching Ireland after next year's World Cup to be with family more, despite being a frontrunner to take over the All Blacks if he put his name forward.
Instead, Quinlan says the job will likely go to current assistant coach Ian Foster.
"The thing that happened when Graham Henry left was that Hansen stepped up. So, there's not an awful lot of change or structure to the group.
"There's talk that a similar scenario is happening with Ian Foster and he'll step up and take the head coach role - with Hansen moving up into that director of rugby role."
Hansen is expected to confirm his future on December 17.
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