Wallabies ahead of us in build-up, says Henry

Graham Henry

New Zealand coach Graham Henry rates Australia as being further ahead in their preparations for the Tri-Nations rugby tournament than the All Blacks.

The Wallabies, under new coach John Connolly, scored solid victories in their two-test series against England and their one-off clash with Ireland.

New Zealand, meanwhile, struggled to put away the Irish and Argentina in their three internationals so far.

Having seen footage of Australia's 37-15 win over Ireland in Perth last weekend, Henry admitted the All Blacks had some catching up to do before the transtasman rivals clash in Christchurch on July 8.

"I think we're a bit behind Australia at the moment," he said.

"It's a big week for us next week. It's going to be a huge test match at Jade Stadium. It's going to be a boomer."

Connolly succeeded Eddie Jones, who had taken over as Wallaby coach in 2001 but was sacked last December after just one win in his last nine tests.

Henry said Australia had improved immensely after "a bit of an embarrassing year last year".

They had always had quality backs who could finish, but they were now showing some steel up front.

He put the resurgence down to the influence of Connolly, a renowned forward coach.

"He's picked a bigger pack and bigger loose forwards, so they have a big lineout," he said.

"They have four genuine targets and he's looking to right the scrum. They did pretty well against Ireland."

The New Zealand selectors went for a rotation policy in their early season internationals, and Henry gave the All Blacks' overall performance a mark of six out of 10.

He had no complaints about the depth of talent at his disposal, but the execution hadn't quite been there.

While he agreed that giving his first 15 a run before the Tri-Nations would have been a good option, he said the aim had been to allow players time for recovery and reconditioning after a long Super 14.

"You cannot play and do that as well, so we had to make a difficult decision," he said.

"We made the difficult decision hoping it wouldn't come back to bite us on the backside."

Henry added that the 30-strong squad named today for the first three Tri-Nations tests contained players who were refreshed and ready to perform.

"It's been a good process and I think the guys who have been selected will be extra keen."

- NZPA