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Expression delights Henry

All Blacks coach Graham Henry was delighted his players were prepared to have a go at expressing themselves, even in the white-hot atmosphere of a Test match against South Africa.

Sunday, 18 July 2010

Sportal.co.nz

All Blacks coach Graham Henry was delighted his players were prepared to have a go at expressing themselves, even in the white-hot atmosphere of a Test match against South Africa.

The Wellington triumph, again in disappointing weather conditions, was notable for the way the All Blacks were prepared to throw the ball around, despite the rain, in their own 22m area with tight forwards showing just as much ball-handling skill as the backs.

Henry said taking five points from both games was significant and while the win was not as clinical as that achieved in the first game in Auckland, that was probably because both teams looked to be feeling the effects of that match.

There had been a period in the game, around the 60-minute mark, when the game could have gone either way, he said, but the All Blacks defended very solidly and that was probably a turning point.

"The fact we were prepared to attack in our own half resulted in a couple of tries," he said.

The new interpretations had changed the game a lot and allowed a degree of continuity for the team with the ball and this resulted in a couple of the All Blacks tries being moved through several pairs of hands.

Captain Richie McCaw said he had been guilty of giving away a couple of penalties at the breakdown when not keeping his feet but he said when he was able to hold his feet and get the ball there was reward for the effort.

But what pleased him most about the effort was what he called, 'the will to play'. This had resulted from the effort the team had put in to understand what they were going to do in a game which included looking for space, and fronting up physically.

The side was only a third of the way through the Tri Nations though and there was still some work to do.

McCaw said there was not much between the three teams in the Tri Nations and it was often little things that made the difference between winning and losing.

Losing didn't make players bad straightaway, he said when asked by a South African journalist if he felt some of the Springboks were over the hill.

Forwards coach Steve Hansen said the All Blacks' start to the game had been critical. While the lineout had not been as efficient as it had been in the first Test that was possibly because they tried to get a little complicated and the side was not as competitive on South Africa's throws.

"There's something for us to work on and that will be good," he said.

Hansen said No.8 Keiran Read had got better and better in his position.

"What we are seeing now is a world-class player and having players like that is comforting as a coach," he said.

Backs coach Wayne Smith praised halfback Piri Weepu's effort saying his contribution had been outstanding  and he had clearly been happy to be on his own track. He had stepped up and made some key breaks and then landed a fine penalty goal.

"We have a team of immense skill, but it was will that won tonight. Ten weeks ago people were saying South Africa had all the skilled players. It was will that made the difference. They came out fighting and threw everything into it," he said of the All Blacks.

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