Henry expecting top two clash to ‘go to the wire’
“It’s a game between two sides rated one and two in the world,” said Henry, who has had the luxury of making ten changes from the side that last week posted a record 41-20 win over struggling world champions England.
“When you get a contest of that magnitude it’s going to be a beauty.
“I’d imagine the 80 minutes would be important rather than any section of those 80,” Henry said when pressed on what would be the decisive factor.
“It’ll probably go to the wire, which these games tend to do when you’re playing top-quality sides.
“We have to concentrate on the full 80 minutes and play well for the 80 minutes.”
Henry said his team were under no illusion about the strength of the France team, who last beat the All Blacks in Marseille six years ago and most recently suffered a 45-6 mauling in Paris in 2004.
“Their guys have been playing European Cup and top 14 rugby for a couple of months,” said the former Wales coach. “They’re match-hardened and ready to go, I’m sure.”
He added that he had been impressed by France’s performance against South Africa in Cape Town in a June Test won by 36-26 by the visitors.
“I thought they played pretty well in South Africa, a country we find it difficult to win in. They won convincingly and played particularly well as the game went on.”
Henry has warned his team to expect a deafening cauldron when the match gets under way at the home of reigning five-time French football team Lyon.
He said the team that played and lost 42-33 to France in Marseille in 2000 had been “shocked by the ferocity and excitement” of the crowd.
“They’d never experienced anything of that nature before,” he said. “I’m expecting it to be a marvellous occasion with huge crowd involvement.”
Henry, however, refused to be drawn in a war of words with French counterpart Bernard Laporte, who this week accused the All Blacks of committing professional fouls and cynical play both in the loose and at set-pieces.
But he did call on the International Rugby Board (IRB), the sport’s governing body, to harmonise refereeing standards as part of a bid to further professionalise and improve standards of rugby.
“All we want is a fair crack of the whip from the referee,” Henry said, stressing he was talking in general terms and not about match-day official, Stuart Dickinson of Australia.
“What we’d like is to make sure the referee referees the game as he sees it and blows the whistle accordingly.
“In the game today there’s a lot of times when the home team gets a lot more penalties than the visiting team... whether played in New Zealand, South Africa or France.
“I think that’s a weakness in the refereeing system.
“A great game of rugby needs consistency of refereeing no matter where the game is played.”
The oft-biased penalty count was “disappointing part of international rugby and something those who officiate the game need to think very seriously about”.
Referees “probably don’t do it consciously but there’s a lot of pressure from the crowd, and as part of maturing a sport in a professional period, they (the IRB) need to look at it”.
Henry added that he had brought the matter up with IRB referee manager Paddy O’Brien.
“He understands,” quipped Henry.
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