Henry expects Lions to have strong Celtic flavour

All Blacks coach Graham Henry expects victory for his former team Wales over England and the resurgence of Ireland should make for a more Celtic flavour to the Lions squad to tour New Zealand this summer.

In 2001 the Lions squad, which was coached by Henry, was packed with English players for the tour of Australia but following England’s post-World Cup slump in form the balance of power within the home nations has started to shift.

“I think there will be quite a significant number of Irish and Welsh players in the touring side as well as English and a few Scots. But I think there will be a more significant number [of non-England players] than in the last tour,” Henry.

Henry, who was in charge of Wales when they last beat the English in 1999, also expressed his delight at the Welsh victory in Cardiff last weekend.

“They will be partying in Wales for about a year. I was quite emotional actually. I was involved in the last win in 1999 and it was an incredible day,” he said.

“It’s just a great result for the Welsh rugby team. There are a lot of young guys who have developed over the last three or four years and they have come close on some big occasions recently and haven’t pulled off the result. It was just crucial for them to get the result [on Saturday].

“They were the better side on the day and played the better rugby and I spoke to some of them afterwards and it was great to hear the huge excitement. It will be amazing for that team. It will help them get a lot more self-belief and they will grow from that.”

Henry remains hopeful that a fixture against Wales can be added to the All Blacks programme for the end-of-year tour.

Tests have already been agreed against Ireland, Scotland and England and Henry would love the opportunity to lead his players in search of a grand slam of victories against the home nations.

The trip will mark the centenary of the famous 1905 tour when New Zealand were first named the All Blacks and lost to Wales when a try by Bob Deans was disallowed.

“We would like to take that challenge [of a grand slam]. It would be extra motivation but it was extra motivation for the South Africans this year and it didn’t quite work out for them.

“I just think it would be a good thing to try and do again. Also we played Wales in 1905 when Deans definitely scored and we just want to even up the ledger in the 2005 tour!”