Henry sorry for O’Driscoll but happy to move on

NEW ZEALAND coach Graham Henry is satisfied the fall-out from the incident involving Lions captain Brian O’Driscoll and his opposite number Tana Umaga has not had a negative effect on his team in the build-up to the second Test in Wellington on Saturday.

Lions coach Clive Woodward has made clear his unhappiness that Umaga and hooker Keven Mealamu were not cited after up-ending the Lions centre in an off-the-ball incident which resulted in the Irishman dislocating his shoulder and being forced out of the tour.

However, Henry believes the All Blacks have managed to avoid getting embroiled too deeply in the issues being played out in the media and have instead remained focused on the second Test which could see them win the series if they are successful on Saturday.

“They understand what the side-show is about. It has been discussed briefly and we’ve just tried to get on and concentrate on playing rugby,” Henry said.

“I don’t think our guys take a huge amount of interest in what’s going on in the media. They are just concentrating on trying to perform, which is their job.”

He added: “They have got a lot of sympathy for Brian and what has happened, and that is genuine, but they are professional athletes and they’ve got a job to do and that is to play the best they can for their country.”

Henry revealed the incident and its aftermath had been discussed within the All Blacks leadership group and stressed again Umaga and Mealamu had not acted with malice or intent.

“The incident wasn’t intentional, it was just one of those things that happen in rugby and people are disappointed about that. But they are not shooting themselves because of what has happened. They realise it was an accident and they can’t control those things sometimes and we’ve just got to move on.”

The former Wales coach said the criticism directed at Umaga had left the All Blacks skipper, who won a fair play award for his actions in helping a stricken Colin Charvis in a Test against Wales in 2003, disappointed.

But he added: “He is a top professional and realises that he needs to focus on the game and draw a line in the sand and move on. Although he felt a lot of sympathy for Brian he realises he’s also got a responsibility to the team he leads and he’s getting on with the job.”

That job sees Umaga and the All Blacks just one game away from a series win over the Lions after the mauling they gave the visitors in the first Test in Christchurch.

Henry has made three changes to the starting line-up from that Test, with scrum-half Byron Kelleher replacing Justin Marshall and Mils Muliaina and Rico Gear coming in for full-back Leon MacDonald and wing Doug Howlett respectively. Ma’a Nonu will make his first start of the campaign from the bench.

Henry explained the introduction of Kelleher, Muliaina and Gear was part of a long-term strategy to increase the depth of players in each position and said the decision had been made easier because the trio were of equal ability to the players they had replaced.

“We just think bringing some fresh guys in after a big Test match on Saturday will give us some extra sharpness and a bit more enthusiasm. We have to look to the future and I think New Zealand rugby has fallen over in the past when we haven’t had depth in position.”