KEY POINTS:
LYON - All Blacks coach Graham Henry has hammered home the need for discipline against Portugal here tonight, anxious that no other player joins lock Keith Robinson on the Rugby World Cup sidelines.
Robinson's involvement in the tournament is back under a cloud after Henry revealed he had regressed this week in his bid to recover from a calf strain that has lingered since the team arrived in France.
After making positive noises on Tuesday about the recuperation of Robinson and utility forward Reuben Thorne from a hamstring strain, Henry had only good news on the latter yesterday.
"Reuben's looking very good and Robbo was looking good until a couple of days ago, and I think he's gone back a couple of steps before he goes forward," Henry said.
The coach remained "hopeful" both would be available for next week's key pool match against Scotland.
"It's an up and down process, which is frustrating."
Alongside injury, an ever-present threat to Henry's players at this tournament is suspension.
He is convinced there is a crackdown in place on foul play, in the wake of a first week dotted with yellow cards, citings and suspensions.
The last thing he needs is another player - particularly a lock or loose forward - out of the equation over coming games, particularly with the quarterfinals to played in just three weeks.
"It's a very important part of the tournament that you're disciplined and you don't self-destruct," he said.
"They're probably stricter here than they have been in recent years in rugby. I'm comfortable with that and I'm sure our team is comfortable with that.
"As long as there is consistency."
Henry and management have analysed all of the acts that have resulted in citings and has updated the players this week on what to avoid.
"It's becoming an important part of the tournament," he said.
Aside from being onside with officialdom, Henry was looking for a crisp, clean performance that was a step up from last Saturday's 76-14 opening blast against Italy.
"We want to improve on what we did last week, we want to play more consistently through the game," he said.
"We want to play with quality for longer than we did last week.
"The Scottish game will be a pretty important game going forward but we'll see how the guys play tomorrow (tonight) and we'll think about the Scottish game after that."
Only four players who started in the remarkable 47-3 thrashing of France at the same ground last November will run out tonight.
Another performance of that standard will quickly blast Portugal off the park.
Henry repeated his view that tonight's game was good for the development of the amateur-based minnows and for rugby overall.
However, having watched their 10-56 loss to Scotland in person last Sunday, he found it hard to talk up any aspect of their game.
"I was delighted with their enthusiasm. The support from their spectators was quite outstanding," he said.
"There is a huge amount of spirit in the side, I think they're delighted to be here and they're enjoying their Rugby World Cup."
Stand-in captain Jerry Collins repeated his vow that the players would show little mercy to their opponents.
"You can't really take any game too lightly because the guys who take the field are vying for positions later on in the tournament," he said.
"The score will take care of itself if we play the way we've been preparing."
Meanwhile, Henry revealed the All Blacks were keeping an eye on opponents likely to figure later in the tournament.
Members of his management team would be in Paris this morning (NZ time) for the game between England and South Africa and likewise for the Australia-Wales match in Cardiff a day later.
- NZPA
