'Nervous' Henry faces his acid test

Jumping on the spirit of openness that seems to be prevalent among the All Blacks this week, coach Graham Henry admits he is "nervous" about a Bledisloe Cup rematch against the Wallabies that has him staring down the barrel of an unprecedented third straight defeat.

Henry also opened up on the pressure he's feeling to not only halt the two-game Tri-Nations losing skid at Eden Park on Saturday night, but to even the ledger against his Wallaby rival Robbie Deans who has his fair share of support around New Zealand.

Asked if he was anxious about the prospect of turning round a pretty comprehensive defeat to the Wallabies, after conceding they had been out-thought by Deans on the tactical front, in just seven days, Henry gave a peak into the pressure-cooker he's occupying right now.

"I'm nervous about the week," he said. "There's not a lot of time and the weather's not helping us. We can only work with the time-frame we've got, and we're focusing on doing that.

"There's been a lot of research done and a lot of talk over the last few days, and we trained today to try adjust what we're doing tactically. The guys totally bought into that, and we've made selection changes to try help with the execution of that.

"We've got to be positive and hope we have got time to change it around."

The lineup unveiled on Tuesday reflected this tactical tinkering.

For starters Richie McCaw is back and that immediately gives a better balance to a loose trio that wasa  distant second last Saturday night.

But more pointedly Rodney So'oialo is returned to No 8, Jerome Kaino to the blindside flank and the left-right flanker experiment is shelved. Not before time, many would say.

There also change in the back three and at centre, with Leon MacDonald at fullback, Mils Muliaina moved to the right wing and Conrad Smith back at centre. MacDonald is there specifically to help Muliaina in the key area of kick returning.

But Henry's headaches don't end with his optional changes. He also has injury situations at halfback and hooker that won't be resolved till Thursday. The hope is Andrew Hore will be right to start at No 2, and either Jimmy Cowan or the recalled Piri Weepu to line up at No 9.

But the All Blacks are staring at the cold, hard reality of facing a well-drilled Wallabies outfit that will inflict a rare Eden Park defeat on them (they haven't won there in 22 years) if they're given the sniff of a chance.

More so Henry is under the gun, as his reappointment at the expense of Deans comes under the microscope from a public that has been waiting for this head-to-head to reach a final conclusion.

Then there's the stakes. Defeat at Eden Park on Saturday will finish the All Blacks' slim hopes of a fourth consecutive Tri-Nations title, leave them on the brink of losing their five-year Bledisloe Cup grip and bring up a three-match losing streak for the first time since 1998.

"We try to focus from day to day to do the job," said Henry. "If you get sidetracked by other things ... I guess there's a certain amount of criticism out there because the All Blacks have lost a couple of test matches.

"We're not proud of the way we played. The guys went out with the right attitude, they wanted to play well, but didn't put it together. All we can do is concentrate on trying to improve that by what we do during the week at training and don't get distracted by issues we can't control.

"That's what we have to do and I think we're doing that particularly well as a trio of coaches."

Then Henry let us in on what it's like being a coach under the gun. One whose critics seemed poised permanently at the ready.

"Is it difficult? I've had a bit of practice over the last eight months. I'm just trying to stay focused and even though it is frustrating and you know it's going on, there's nothing you can do about it and you've got to concentrate on the things you can do something about and that's helping these young fellows play well at the weekend."

Reminded that it had been 10 years to the day since he'd departed to start his international coaching career with Wales, Henry was asked, given all the extenuating circumstances, if this was one of the toughest weeks of his career.

"It's the nature of the job," he shrugged. "Every international sporting coach has these challenges. You've just got to handle it. But, yes, it's a challenge."

Even the weather seemed to be conspiring against him this week, with Auckland in the grip of another wintry storm which was playing havoc with preparations.

Still, regardless of the conditions he's confronted with on Saturday night, Henry figures it will be "more of the same" from the Wallabies.

"It was almost wet-weather football in dry conditions last week, and it'll be the same [on Saturday]. Territory will be paramount, the kicking game and putting pressure on will be paramount."

And for Henry, winning will be most paramount of all.

- © Fairfax NZ News