Henry eyes Bok redemption
Wed, 23 Sep 2009 11:43
Now for the big boys: Graham Henry, Wayne Smith, Steve Hansen and Richie McCaw
All Black coach Graham Henry believes that injuries and an exodus of some of New Zealand's premier players have diminished his team's ability in this year's Tri-Nations but he is already talking up the shot at redemption against the Springboks next year.
The 2009 Tri-Nations was touted as a tight tournament before it kicked off two months ago but a clear pecking order emerged as South Africa whitewashed New Zealand, who in turn completed a clean sweep of last-placed Australia with Saturday's 33-6 win in Wellington.
However, Henry estimated that injury had left him without 10 to 12 quality players who could make a difference against South Africa.
The likes of prop Carl Hayman and other English-based former All Blacks such as Nick Evans, Aaron Mauger and Doug Howlett could yet be added to the mix either next year or leading up to the 2011 World Cup.
"There's a lot of people coming back from injury, there may be one or two come back from overseas next year," Henry told the NZPA.
"When all those guys come back, and with the current squad, there's going to be a lot of competition for places. That should improve the side immensely.
"The big test is when we play the boys from South Africa again and see how we function at lineout time."
The Springboks are in a different league to a young Wallabies side who appear to carry mental baggage into tests against New Zealand. Henry emphasised that point, doing his utmost to play down the scale of his side's improvement, despite a fine all round showing.
"We didn't make the same sort of errors but we weren't under the same sort of pressure," he said.
"It's a different game against different opposition. At the moment we're struggling to handle that South African pressure, particularly if we can't get solid first phase ball.
"It takes a wee bit of time for these guys to be competitive against a side that is choc-full of internationals who have played a lot of test matches together."
Henry's next hurdle is the test against the Wallabies, in Tokyo on October 31.
The proven coaching ability of his besieged counterpart Robbie Deans faces a major challenge before then. He must lift his side after a massive slide backwards on Saturday from the 21-6 stunning of the Springboks in Brisbane two weeks earlier.
"We'll look at some of the realities," Deans said.
"This young group took a step in Brisbane. They have now experienced both extremes. It was an experience we were hopeful of avoiding, obviously."
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