Bokwatch Day 3: The Toughest Challenge

Graham Henry, Steve Hansen, Jerome Kaino and John Smit open their mouths and let the wind flap their tongues.

Graham Henry believes that the opening match of the Tri Nations against the Boks will be “the toughest challenge” of his five year tenure as All Blacks coach.

“I think it’s a massive challenge, maybe the biggest challenge this group of people have faced in the five years that we’ve been together.

“It’ll maybe bring the best out of us and we’re hoping to give them a decent sort of game… I don’t think you’re going to get a bigger Test match for the All Blacks.”

Assistant All Blacks coach Steve Hansen gave an update on the status of injured lock Ali Williams – a key man for the home side.

“I wouldn’t say he’s 100 percent but he’s working his way towards that. He’s pretty confident that he’s going to be right. He’ll train for a limited amount of time tomorrow and we’ll build on that on Thursday.

“Any Test match, when you’ve a guy who’s your chief line-out forward and he’s played 50 Test matches, it’s important to have him.”

Jerome Kaino is ready to face the Springboks for the first time when he starts at number 8 for the All Blacks on Saturday.

“There’s nothing unfamiliar to us. We are a lot smaller than them but a lot of the time we dominate them. I can’t wait for that challenge.

“From what I hear they are quite confident, so we look forward to testing them physically and taking them on.”

Bok captain John Smit spoke about the importance of the scrum in Saturday’s game, and his desire to beat the All Blacks at home.

“The All Blacks have dominated their opponents in the scrums in every match they’ve played this season. They got the upper hand, despite England’s strong scrum. That’s a feather in their caps.

“There are some Test matches that you know will be hard. The All Blacks in New Zealand is one of those in which the physical aspect is non-negotiable.

“If you don’t stand up in that respect, you’re going to be on the back foot from the outset. We must not let ourselves down from a physical viewpoint.

“The All Blacks would, of course, have liked Richie to be part of their team but there is no such thing as a weak All Blacks team. I can’t think ever in my lifetime that the All Blacks have been vulnerable at home, so I wouldn’t subscribe to that.

“You guys ask me why I’m desperate to continue playing. I think this is one of the reasons.

“It’s a hunger inside me that I have to still. We have often had opportunities to win here but we botched them in the last seconds or last minutes. We have played good rugby here but we failed to win. We came pretty close in the past but never managed to seal it in the end, when we needed to do so. On Saturday you will see two top sides battling it out in a truly great rugby rivalry.

“There are certain things one wants to achieve. We have an opportunity to do it now. We’ve worked hard to get to the top. Now we must ensure we maintain the momentum.

“We won the World Cup and we’re here as the top-ranked team in the world. But we’ll give up that position if we lose. That is our motivation. The process must continue.

“Most of last year’s players are still here and they are hungry to do even better than in the past. We must show we can do it against the top rugby nations.

“We have done enough to win here on previous occasions but we failed to take our chances.

“I don’t want to think back, a few years from now, to specific incidents in which our bungling cost us victory.”