Henry: Ireland ‘possibly’ best side in Europe

ALL BLACKS coach Graham Henry has described Ireland as “possibly” the best side in Europe, following his side’s hard-earned 34-23 victory in Hamilton on Saturday.

Henry, reacting to questions about his own philosophy of rotating players in a bid to expand his 2007 World Cup squad, paid tribute to Ireland for the way they had developed over the last few years.

He admitted: “I think we caught them cold last autumn in their first game of the season, but they proved to be very capable in the Six Nations. They might well have won it, but for a disastrous first half against France,” he said.

Henry said: “We knew this was going to be difficult for us, Ireland have many fine players, they’re a tough side to play against, very physical and they’ve got a lot of skill as well. I think Brian O’Driscoll, in particular, showed what a class player he is out there.”

France may be Six Nations champions, but Henry believes Ireland can be just as good on their day. “The thing about France is that you never know what to expect, never know which French team is going to turn up. Ireland are more predictable in that they’re likely to be more consistent, but that doesn’t make it much easier. They’re always physical, always in your face, and they’re a great side to force you to make mistakes by putting pressure on.

“They also showed a lot of character in having a go right to the end; we needed that kind of character as well to contain them, and I think we just about deserved to win. But it was tough, there were a lot of dangerous moments when we could have lost the run of ourselves, so we will have to look at ways of improving.”

So, as Ireland plan a further assault, Henry doesn’t believe it will automatically become easier at Eden Park on Saturday.

“I think there is a lot more steel to this Irish side than in the past; they’re used to winning matches a lot more and they play with a lot more confidence. They have some big, world class players, big hitters and they can vary their game plan pretty well. I wouldn’t say it will be easy next week, although I do expect an improvement from our guys. That was our first game of the season and it should get better,” he said.

Henry’s plan is to have 30 players of the highest quality, with considerable experience, at next year’s World Cup.

But he still doesn’t have the full backing of a rugby mad nation. His team came in for considerable criticism in virtually all of yesterday’s New Zealand Sunday newspapers.

Writing in the Sunday Star-Times, respected columnist Phil Gifford pointed out: “Graham Henry and Co have won support from certain people because they have explained everything they’re trying to do every inch of the way.

“As one who applauds the current master plan, I’m still inclined to think that the winning, rather than sweet reason, has been the key element in holding support.

“Ireland in Hamilton will have stretched, strained and tested the loyalty factor. Ireland, off a busy season, were often better drilled, better organised and more confident in their moves than the All Blacks,” he said.

Henry admitted that his side looked sometimes “rusty”, and conceded that his newest side needed time to adjust. But, he insists, the show will go on. He has the full backing of his assistant Wayne Smith. “This is the way we’re going. We don’t want to change our plan; it has been working, and we want to blood as many guys as possible before the World Cup to prepare properly for that competition.

“We considered this our best team for this particular game; it’s no disrespect to Ireland if people feel it wasn’t our top side, but that’s up to them to judge,” he said.

On Ireland, Smith believes it’s a team on the up. “I think Ireland proved what a quality side they are; they’ve got some world class players and that extends beyond Brian O’Driscoll and Paul O’Connell.

“These guys go straight to the coal face and keep on working for the duration of the game. They’re a fair side to attack as well, and they provided us with a lot of scary moments. I’m just happy to come out with a win, happy to have got a couple of breaks at timely points of the match,” he said.

AS New Zealand concentrate on their Test series with Ireland, All Blacks Dan Carter and Leon Macdonald are studying Argentina.

Assistant coach Wayne Smith has left the Crusaders duo to read up on the Pumas ahead of the June 25 Test. The pair were named in the XV to start in Buenos Aires and have been working with Smith ahead of this week’s trip.

“The whole idea is that these guys are refreshed, recovered and ready to go by the time we get over there,” Smith said.

“So you’ve got a whole group thinking only Argentina rather than being cluttered with talk about Ireland. It’s designed to get the best of the group and to treat the match with the respect it deserves.”

Head coach Graham Henry, Steve Hansen and Smith head to South America with the seven reserves after the second Ireland Test at Eden Park.