Henry wary of Boks

The Sharks performance against the Blues has stirred many pundits in New Zealand. The Blues are a flagship New Zealand side, and the Sharks showed exactly how their brand of rugby can be nullified.

There are no doubts whatsoever that Jake White would have taken careful notice of how exactly the Sharks put paid to the most potent attacking force of Super rugby.

Venomous defence, well-aimed kicking and an ability to strike from small opportunities were the three prongs of the Sharks game.

New Zealand coach Graham Henry, who is well aware that his side will carry the hopes of a nation starved of World Cup glory for twenty years, noted that effective strategy.

“The way the Sharks played at the weekend is an indication of that. They played particularly well. They out-thought the Blues on that particular night, they played with a huge amount of physical presence and they showed some of the tactical things that I’d expect the South Africans to use in a couple of months time.

“The South Africans are particularly strong and they have some new players who have come through the woodwork. They are going to be a major challenge,” warned Henry, speaking to YahooXtra, leaving the rugby world in no doubt as to who he saw as chief opposition to his mighty All Blacks.

“There will be a number of teams who will be quality and they (South Africa) will be one of them. We have a huge amount of respect for them and that hasn’t changed. In fact, it’s heightened,” he declared.

Henry also refuses to write off the Wallabies’ hopes.

“They have had a few injuries to key players. But if you look at Australian rugby they have always come up with 20-odd players who can play. They are good upstairs mentally, they can handle pressure and they are composed rugby players.

“They will be good come Tri Nations time. We would underestimate them at our peril. They will be up there and they will be highly competitive again

“We have to think about ourselves and look to get back to the levels we were at last year. And then for the Tri Nations we go up a couple of notches and we need to because they are going to be very strong sides.”