Henry's depth charges include Weepu
All Blacks coach Graham Henry explained on Wednesday that a six-match November tour had been devised to develop new depth within his squad, while backs coach Wayne Smith added that that depth included considering Piri Weepu at fly-half.
All Blacks coach Graham Henry explained on Wednesday that a six-match November tour had been devised to develop new depth within his squad, while backs coach Wayne Smith added that that depth included considering Piri Weepu at fly-half.
New Zealand are taking a whopping 35 players on tour to cope with the demands of playing all four home nations, Australia, and European Champions Munster during their time up north.
“The All Blacks have never played five tests on five consecutive Saturdays,” Henry told reporters in Hong Kong.
“So that's a major challenge for this side and a major challenge for this tour. It's just making sure we have the numbers for the demands and juggling them correctly.”
“This tour is about building some depth in the team again. I think this tour will allow us to do that.
“Hopefully over the next six games we will have more depth, more guys knocking on the door for Test selection than I have right now.”
Will one of those be Piri Weepu? The scrum-half has been overlooked by Henry for some time now, but having regained form, fitness, and added some versatility by playing fly-half for Wellington on a regular basis this season as well as kicking the goals, Smith said he was becoming an integral part of the squad in both positions.
“I like what he has done,” Smith said.
“Clearly we rate him as a scrum-half. But he gives us good cover. If we were to get an injury in a game and he was playing or on the bench, then he is able to slip into that role.
“I think Wellington managed it well through the season, where he got 30 minutes each game when he was moving into scrum-half.
“He is competitive and he wants that No 1 spot, but he is a team man, he is the captain (of Wellington) and he wants to do what is right for the team. And he has done that.
“From our point of view, we are quite happy. It develops him as a rugby player.”
There are several tourists who have not had any game time at all during September and October bar the Brisbane clash in September, despite opportunities to play in the Air New Zealand Cup.
Robbie Deans lamented the lack of match practice his charges had had since then, so is there a risk that Henry's players are similarly under-cooked?
“I think we have got the balance right, in the main,” Henry said before the side's departure.
“Some guys have played more rugby than others, but that is always the case on an end-of-year tour.
“We have just tried to be sensible and make sensible decisions at the end of the Tri-Nations to make sure that guys that were carrying injury were going to be right to tour.
“Ali Williams and Tony Woodcock are good examples of that. If they had played Air New Zealand Cup, they wouldn't be right to tour, so we have done the right thing there.
“But on the other side of the coin to that is: are they ready to play?
“That is why we had the game against Barbarians during the week, to try and ensure they had that physical couple of games to make sure they would be the best they could be for that game in Hong Kong.”