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Touring SA the toughest test - Henry

Thursday 07th August 2008

Crucial battle: Can the All Backs compete with the Boks in the line-out?

All Blacks coach Graham Henry says there is no tougher place for New Zealand to tour than the tip of Africa.

Henry and his team will board a flight to South Africa on Friday to prepare for their return Tri-Nations match against the Springboks in Cape Town on August 17.

During his four and a half years at the All Blacks helm, Henry's record on the road to the Springboks stands at two wins and three losses, far better than most.

But Henry drew little comfort from the statistics, saying the Springboks on home turf represented "a major, major, major hurdle".

The trip to the Republic will be even tougher than usual since almost half the 26-strong tour party have not played a Test there.

"It's the most difficult place that New Zealand teams have played in the history of the game," Henry told the NZPA.

"The All Blacks over the last few years have been among the best in the world at times, and they've struggled. That shows the magnitude of the task."

Henry said playing at sea level in Cape Town rather than in the rarified air of high altitude venues of the South African interior would be a help, as would the scheduling that allowed the All Blacks to arrive in the country eight days before the match.

If the visitors are to have any hope of winning they will need to get the superiority up front that they managed in their comprehensive 39-10 defeat of the Wallabies in Auckland last weekend.

However, Henry said the Springboks had the best line-out in world rugby, while their scrum was better than Australia's.

"When you have dominance at set piece you can control field position and that's what we did," he said.

"If you don't get dominance at set piece, which could be the case against South Africa, then you have to use the ball that's kicked to you, otherwise you don't use the ball at all."