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Henry hits out at scrums

All Blacks coach Graham Henry struck another blow for effective action to be taken with scrum problems in international rugby in the aftermath of Saturday's 29-10 win over Wales in Hamilton.

Sunday, 27 June 2010

Sportal.co.nz

All Blacks coach Graham Henry struck another blow for effective action to be taken with scrum problems in international rugby in the aftermath of Saturday's 29-10 win over Wales in Hamilton.

Henry, often a critic of scrum policy, said there were far too many penalties in the scrum.

"I think we can do better, just for the game's sake. I think we've got to be very strong about heads and shoulders above hips, everybody pushing square and if we do that I think we will have a better game. I still think there are too many people playing games up there in the front row. It just destroys the game as a spectacle and it makes it frustrating for the guys who are playing.

"I think we've got a lot of work to do in that area generally in the scrum.

Henry said the selection panel was pleased to win the three-Test Steinlager Series 3-0 having played better rugby this year than in the same period last year.

"We've developed a lot of new players which has added depth. It was good to see Mils Muliaina and Tom Donnelly get through their work today. Mils got a bit of a shock playing 80 [minutes] but he's delighted now," he said.

Henry said Muliaina was happy with what he achieved in the match after he had been a little apprehensive on Friday.

"He's back on track and that is great for the All Blacks," Henry said.

There were 'huge selection issues' going on in the side at the moment and Henry said choosing the final Tri Nations squad was going to be difficult because some very good players were going to miss out.

"What the good thing is, is that there are a number of options. And there wasn't those number of options at the start of the year. So we've developed some depth.

The side had developed a platform from which to advance during the Tri Nations series. Henry said there was no doubt the Tri Nations was the most competitive contest in the world, if for no other reason than it involved three of the top four nations in the world so it was going to be a step up for the All Blacks from that in the home series.

The second Test against Wales had been messy, with spilled ball at the tackle which had been disappointing while the Welsh never gave up and scored a great try at the end.

Captain Richie McCaw said the game had been frustrating, especially when holding the ball, getting down the Welsh end and then being given penalties and while the side was able to keep the score ticking over, it would have been nicer to build pressure and score tries.

"Being put under pressure like that [when Wales scored its try] looking forward for the next few weeks, I thought we defended pretty well and it was probably pretty good for us to have to withstand that," he said.

While the side was happy enough with the win, there was still a realisation that it could have gone better.

Forwards coach Steve Hansen was pleased with the way the lineout had developed during the series.

"It's going along pretty good, we just try to keep things pretty simple and try and be as accurate as we can. I think we achieved that. We added in the drive tonight and we had a couple of nice drives and now we step up into the big boys' league and I think we can go in there with some confidence as long as we keep it smart, and simple and people do their jobs," he said.

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