Henry probed again on O'Driscoll injury

NEW ZEALAND coach Graham Henry spent much of his first press conference following the tourists’ arrival in Cardiff fielding questions about the summer’s Lions tour and the First Test incident involving skipper Brian O’Driscoll.

It was hardly an unexpected topic, given the recent appearance of new video footage of the double tackle by New Zealand captain Tana Umaga and hooker Keven Mealamu which left the Irishman with a shoulder injury which is still keeping him on the sidelines.

"Brian has a book coming out and I assume the video was held back to coincide with it," said Henry.

"There are a lot of injuries in rugby we've had two guys who can't tour because they are injured and it's part and parcel of the game.

"I know Brian. I coached the Lions in 2001 and he was a key member of that side. He's a high quality player and a top person.

"We've got every sympathy with him. It's an unfortunate thing that happened and we wish him well. But what can we do? We can't wave a magic wand and suddenly he is fit again."

Henry would not be drawn at all on recent criticism of his handling of Gavin Henson and Iestyn Harris when he was Wales coach.

Henson's recent book slammed Henry and his successor, Steve Hansen, for their treatment of him.

Rugby League convert Harris, in a forthcoming autobiography, claims he was capped too soon because the Welsh Rugby Union wanted to recoup some of his transfer fee in increased ticket sales.

Hansen, back as one of the All Blacks' assistant coaches, was dismissive of Henson's complaints over his omission from the Welsh World Cup squad.

"Gavin's his own man," he said. "He'll say what he wants to say. People will judge him by what he says and how he plays and they'll judge me on what I've done.

"He's entitled to his opinion. Mine at the time was not to take him to the World Cup and I'm still pretty happy with that decision."

Henry insisted beating all four of the home nations was not the main aim for his touring side.

"Our policy is to develop some depth across the field, to have a couple in each position capable of playing international rugby," he said.

"If a Grand Slam occurs, that would be a bonus, quite frankly.

"It's not an easy thing to do. The Springboks came over last year as Tri-Nations Champions, they'd given us a hammering in Johannesburg, and they lost to England and Ireland, so we know it will be hard."

Henry stressed that while the opening match against Wales on November 5 was a massive game he regarded the other clashes as equally challenging.

"Wales played superbly in the Six Nations last year and I am sure they will be eager to go at the Millennium Stadium next Saturday night," he said.

"It's always tough at Lansdowne Road. Ireland beat the Springboks there last year. The conditions make it a difficult place to play and whenever I've been there it's been hard."