All Blacks

His recommitment means New Zealand Rugby and the Hurricanes can continue to rely on his outstanding leadership, skill and experience for the next three years.

The 2015 Rugby World Cup winner, who led the Hurricanes to the club's first Investec Super Rugby title a year later, said he was committed to continuing his career in New Zealand.

"I still feel like there are things that I want to achieve in New Zealand with teams that mean a lot to me," Coles said.

New Zealand born Schmidt said he's committed to having at least 12 months off to spend more time with his family, in particular, his 15-year-old son, Luke who suffers from epilepsy and battled a brain tumour when he was younger.

Schmidt's decision means the All Blacks will have to look elsewhere for a new head coach to replace Steven Hansen, who announced last month he'll stand down at the end of the World Cup.

Wales Online reports that Wales will play a series against the current back-to-back World Champions in 2020 after Pivac takes over from Warren Gatland following the conclusion of the 2019 World Cup.

Gatland, who has been in charge of Wales since 2007, is stepping down from the role to return to New Zealand, where he's expected to contend for the All Blacks job, as current coach Steve Hansen confirmed earlier this month he would not seek reappointment after the World Cup.

The 22-year-old scored the only try in Ireland's historic 16-9 win over the All Blacks in Dublin last month, when he re-gathered his own kick and fended off several defenders to score in the 49th minute.

The seven-point win was Ireland's second-ever against the All Blacks, but the first on home soil in front of a sold-out Aviva Stadium. The other was at Soldier Field in Chicago two years ago, when the Irish won 40-29.

After the latest win, All Blacks coach Steve Hansen said the Irish should be the favourites to win the World Cup.

The Hurricanes and Wellington star posted the news to social media this morning and his decision comes after French media reports he was set to join the Pau club after next year's World Cup.

"Truely (sic) blessed to have re-signed with NZ for 2020-2021," Savea posted on Instagram.

"To be honest was a very tough decision but being at home with family and close friends and the opportunity to play for @allblacks @hurricanesrugby @wgtn_rugby I couldn't leave.

"Thank you to the fans for the on going support. Can't wait to get stuck in to 2019 with my canes brothers".

He said whoever replaced him would bring a new perspective.

"Some fresh eyes, some fresh thinking ... whoever it is will be fresh. It will be for the enhancement of the legacy of the jersey," he said.

Hansen comes off contract with New Zealand Rugby (NZR) after the tournament, which runs next September and October.

He has been Head Coach of the All Blacks since 2012 and prior to that was an Assistant Coach for eight years.

Hansen told media this morning two big reasons for making the choice were what was right for the team, and what was right for his family.

New Zealand Rugby Chief Executive Steve Tew revealed details of the additional Test match fixture on the All Blacks' 2019 calendar. The match will be played at FMG Stadium, Waikato, on Saturday 7 September. It will be a hit-out for the Rugby World Cup 2019 squad, and it will be the first All Blacks Test match in Hamilton since 2016.

Speaking ahead of this weekend's Test against Italy in Rome, Hansen hit out at reports suggesting the 33-year-old loose forward may no longer be good enough for the test arena.

"Some of those articles are ridiculous and been written by people that have never been in our environment, we've never seen them at a rugby game. He's going well. He's in the best shape he's been all year," Hansen said of Read, who had back surgery earlier this year.

"He's had some tough moments during the course of the year, which I think have been great for him.

The All Blacks lacked accuracy, especially on attack, in their loss to Ireland at the weekend and have scored just one try in their last two Tests in the northern hemisphere.

Speaking in Rome ahead of this weekend's game against Italy, Foster says coaches are always a bit impatient when trying to implement change.

"We've been round long enough to know that some of the things you've just got to keep chipping away at and overall when you look through the flow of the year, we've actually been pretty happy with where we've got to."

The eagerly-anticipated clash at the Aviva Stadium pits the top two teams in the world against one another, with no less of an intriguing sideshow the battle between Hansen and Ireland coach Joe Schmidt, tipped as his possible successor when he leaves his post at the end of the next World Cup.

Hansen said earlier in the week that the winner of this match could call themselves the best team in the world and he expects Six Nations champions Ireland's eagerness to claim a first ever victory over New Zealand in Dublin to translate into an intense battle on the pitch.