Henry warns against complacency

All Blacks coach Graham Henry is determined New Zealand will not take victory over England for granted.

The New Zealanders completely outplayed the world champions in their 36-3 win at Dunedin last weekend but Henry has warned his players that England are unlikely to play as badly in Saturday’s game at Eden Park and to expect a much tougher encounter.

“England will play out of their skin, they’ve got no option. They’ll be right up there and they will play well. Unless we’re right upstairs, we’re in trouble,” said the former Wales and British Lions coach.

“I think attitude’s going to be the key on Saturday, if it’s not right, we’re going to get second.”

Henry also refused to accept the six changes made by Sir Clive Woodward to his starting line-up were knee-jerk reactions.

James Simpson-Daniel, Mike Catt, Steve Thompson and Chris Jones have been dropped completely for Tom Voyce, Stuart Abbott, Mark Regan and Joe Worlsey, while Matt Dawson and Danny Grewcock have been dropped to the bench with Andy Gomarsall and Steve Borthwick coming in to replace them.

“Sir Clive is a very experienced coach. I’m sure he’s thought it through and he’s made the right decision I’d imagine,” Henry added.

“They’ve been bleeding for a few days now and they’ll use that as motivation, every team does. Particularly sides who have got a history of a lot of success.”

New Zealand wing Doug Howlett, meanwhile, is likely to be out of action for up to a month.

Howlett suffered a shoulder injury during the first Test and was ruled out of the second Test against Sir Clive Woodward’s side yesterday.

A scan has revealed muscle and ligament damage around the joint meaning Howlett is unlikely to feature for the All Blacks until they kick off the Tri-Nations series with a match against Australia in Wellington on July 17. New Zealand face South Africa the following weekend.

Henry is also still unsure whether or not Richie McCaw will be taking the field against England on Saturday.

McCaw has yet to resume training after suffering a blow to the head in last weekend’s Test at Carisbrook and although he has passed the psychometric tests he is still experiencing headaches.

A decision on his inclusion could be left as late as Saturday morning.