KEY POINTS:
TOULOUSE - Graham Henry popped on a pair of sunglasses to shade himself from the bright lights of the press conference room yesterday.
He took them off before questions began but the All Blacks coach would be wrong to think he and his team can escape a week of interrogation in the lead up to their rugby World C up quarterfinal in Cardiff.
Following yesterday's fourth and final pool romp - an 85-8 demolition of Romania here - a French journalist took more than one attempt to stutter out the question that Henry's men can expect to hear for seven days.
"Are you stronger in your mind?"
The query is a fair one given New Zealand's dreadful run in World Cup playoff matches, having reached this stage in style at each of the last four tournaments but failed to go on and collect the silverware.
Henry didn't shirk from the glare.
"I guess in the back of your mind you're always concerned about knockout rugby," he said.
"We've been involved in knockout rugby for the last 20 years and we haven't survived.
"So there is some concern in the back of the head, certainly, but I think we've got to try to do our best each day and hopefully play well in the first knockout game in a week's time."
Thirteen tries was a good return against belligerent opponents at Le Stadium yesterday but it again showed up New Zealand's propensity for unnecessary handling mistakes and their struggles to win clean ball at the breakdown.
Romania are known as the Oaks, an appropriate moniker as their flopping bodies were as hard to budge as fallen timber off tackled players.
In open spaces they were like tree trunks on defence, with the All Blacks outside backs reaping most of the tryscoring rewards - including a hattrick for Joe Rokocoko and doubles to fellow-winger Sitiveni Sivivatu, centre Isaia Toeava and to Nick Evans, who switched from fullback to first five-ei ghth in the second spell.
Henry wouldn't say the match was a good buildup to the quarterfinals but it had served its purpose in terms of providing a tough physical workout.
"We've come off the field pretty happy," he said.
"The Romanians played with a lot of passion and physical presence, they put heat particularly on our scrum and the ball at the tackle, which made life difficult.
"They lived on the offside line which always makes the game a challenge and our guys got better at handling that as the game went on and scored some great tries."
Up 31-0 through 24 minutes, the All Blacks scoring slowed as the quality of the performance degenerated until a late avalanche of tries.
Captain Jerry Collins admitted motivation had been an issue in the leadup, which had included two days completely away from rugby.
"It was always going to be a difficult week because we were always guaranteed a place in the quarterfinals," Collins said.
"Sometimes you can be looking one week ahead.
"But to score 70 points (sic) and still have plenty to work on is a pleasing thing. We're pretty happy but not content."
Hooker Keven Mealamu and lock Reuben Thorne, among a group of players yesterday battling for a place in the top team or the reserves for the quarterfinal, were both solid in their 50th tests.
Mealamu said the Romanian forwards similar in build and style to a typical hard-nosed South African Super 14 pack.
"They're a big side so once they got a bit of momentum behind them, they were a good challenge for us to stop," he said.
"Heading into the quarterfinals, it was exactly what we needed.
"It's good for us to have some things to work on because you don't want to go into the quarterfinals complacent."
The All Blacks were to discover the identity of their quarterfinal opponents after the final pool D matches tomorrow morning (NZ time).
France shaped as most likely, which would create a hugely anticipated clash between the tournament favourites and its hosts.
The All Blacks were to leave on Monday night for Cardiff, a city in mourning after Wales were knocked out of the tournament by Fiji yesterday.
- NZPA
