All Blacks: Player depth

Graham Henry has coached the All Blacks in 77 tests since his start against England in 2004.

He believes the player pool is the most limited it has been in those six seasons. Some positions, such as loose forward and halfback, offered great competition but there is a lack of backup in many other areas.

"Our biggest challenge is finding sufficient depth at 10, 12 and 13."

The exit of fringe players such as Tamati Ellison and Anthony Tuitavake to foreign contracts hurt.

"I think there are 44 [NZ] players playing professional rugby in Europe at the moment at the top level, which is a huge number," said Henry.

"Then you add in Japan, so a lot of guys who would be putting heat on the current All Black contenders are no longer here.

"In my opinion, we have less depth now than we've had for the whole time I have been involved with the All Blacks," he said.

Most Super 14 sides had a nucleus of All Blacks who wanted to stay in and then a group of younger players.

"The middle management has gone and I think that has been a major challenge for a lot of the franchises."

Injury had eliminated senior test players such as Andrew Hore, Ali Williams, Jason Eaton and Sitiveni Sivivatu from the season.

Tom Donnolly had also not played for several months and that meant resources were lean at lock.

It was the same in midfield though Mils Muliaina was returning after injury to club rugby next weekend. He faced competition at fullback and the wing had some depth.