Carter runs the rule over Henry v Deans
Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:53
Discussing the coaches: Daniel Carter (right) and Greg Somerville
Daniel Carter, arguably the greatest flyhalf ever produced by New Zealand, finds it difficult to separate All Black coach Graham Henry and his Wallaby rival Robbie Deans when discussing the merits of the two.
Speaking to AAP, ahead of the Tri-Nations/Bledisloe Cup double headers between Australia and New Zealand in Sydney on Saturday, said he Henry is a little quicker to wield the proverbial cane.
Carter has played under Henry at international level since 2004 and won three Super Rugby titles under Deans at the Crusaders since 2003.
The clash of the highly successful New Zealand coaches is dominating the lead up to Saturday's Test, but Carter did not want to fan the flames by highlighting their differences.
"They're pretty similar in terms of both being world class coaches. It's quite tough to compare the two," Carter told AAP.
"Graham has great support from [assistants] Wayne Smith and Steve Hansen. They probably work more as a trio.
"At Crusaders level, the environment is a lot more relaxed and because [Deans] has coached at that level for such a long time, he backs the players and has a good rapport with the players."
Another subtle difference was that Henry was more inclined to vent his feelings in the changing room if things were not running to plan.
"They both pick their times. Obviously Graham, when things need to be shaped up, the old schoolteacher comes out," Carter smiled.
"But when he does speak like that, it's for a reason and the guys really respond to that. It's not a bad thing."
Carter said the progress Deans had made with the Wallabies would not necessarily be obvious in their tactics.
Instead, his impact would be measured more in terms of player motivation and encouraging peak performance.
"Robbie is best at bringing the best out of players and I think he's done that," Carter told AAP.
"He's picked a couple of new guys like [inside centre] Berrick Barnes and Peter Hynes on the wing and they're just stepping up and playing really well."
