Demanding Henry seeks All Blacks improvement

NEW ZEALAND may have crushed France 47-3 last week, but All Blacks coach Graham Henry is demanding his team keep their feet on the ground and continue to improve.

The All Blacks blended dynamic counter-attacking to some steely blitz defence to send France crashing to its biggest home defeat last Saturday.

But the coaching staff have identified some areas to improve, notably the line-out and the linking play between forwards and backs.

“We shouldn’t get blase about where we stand in world rugby,” Henry said of his side which extended its lead at the top of the IRB rankings to more than seven ratings points after the win.

“We just want to improve as a rugby team,” Henry added.

“They’ll want to be mentally right,” for a game that will also celebrate 100 years of Test rugby in France, the former Wales coach said of the French team.

Henry added: ‘‘France are ranked number two in the world and will be disappointed with their display last week.’’

But Henry admitted that he had been impressed with the performance of his charges in Lyon.

“They wanted to play and enjoy the occasion. They played on the edge, but there are areas we hope to improve on. I don’t mind if they make mistakes but we like to create as well.”

The decision by French coach Bernard Laporte to make seven changes to his side, with veteran hooker Raphael Ibanez at the helm in the absence of the injured Fabien Pelous, had not registered on Henry’s radar.

“I don’t think about those things,” Henry said. “We’ve got our team to get right. But I’m sure Bernard’s made some good decisions.”

The All Blacks show five changes from Lyon, notably in the centre, where the explosive Ma’a Nonu has been selected alongside Mils Muliaina. Chris Jack returns at lock, Keven Mealamu at hooker, and Byron Kelleher at scrum-half.

Captain Richie McCaw was unmoved by the fact that France had cancelled two training sessions in the wake of their seven-try drubbing in Lyon.

“They’ll feel like they didn’t really play last week,” said McCaw. “They’ll want to get into a good state to play. They want to be fresh.”