Henry not getting ahead of himself

Despite a superb 39-10 victory over Australia at Eden Park in the Tri-Nations on Saturday, All Blacks coach Graham Henry was not getting too far ahead of himself.

Despite a superb 39-10 victory over Australia at Eden Park in the Tri-Nations on Saturday, All Blacks coach Graham Henry was not getting too far ahead of himself.

Henry was delighted with the way his team responded to last week's below-par 34-19 defeat against the same opposition, but at the same time knows the next game, against South Africa in Cape Town, is crucial.

“The next contest is going to be massive, both teams will have equal edge,” he said of the Newlands showdown.

“We have all been under pressure, like Jock [Hobbs] and the board and the administration, the team. And I guess the New Zealand rugby public just wanted a performance. And they got a performance tonight which was right out of the top drawer.

“That is great, it gives us a foundation, gives us some confidence, gives us a wee bit of a relief from the pressure. And you know what that is like.”

Next up for New Zealand is two away games, which will decide their fate in this season's final shake up, coupled with Bledisloe Cup games in Brisbane and Hong Kong.

Their next opponents, the world champion Springboks, are the only side to win away in this year's tournament, and if New Zealand harbour any serious title aspirations they must win at least one of their remaining two games, while a few bonus points could come in handy.

But here in Auckland Henry was proud of his side's efforts.

“They played exceptionally well to keep us alive. It was a fine performance tonight,” he said.

“Tactically they played very well. We changed the game plan and the guys executed it exceptionally well.”

Henry was particularly pleased with the way his side played under such pressure, while assistant coach Wayne Smith was quick to praise scrum-half Jimmy Cowan.

Smith, who in the week had said this game was his biggest test as a coach, thought Cowan showed a huge amount of guts after what he has been through off the field this year.

“He showed what it meant to be in the jersey,” he said.