Steve Hansen knows plenty about the Pumas, but he's less certain how much the tourists know about the All Blacks, after being schooled by Graham Henry.

Hansen has made it clear he expects a confrontational forward-orientated battle against Argentina in Wellington on Saturday, with a heavy dose of kick and chase.

And though the All Blacks aren't about to call in the securities commission, they believe their former coach, Henry, has probably passed on a few trade secrets ahead of the historic Rugby Championship test.

"He'll be doing a lot of work with their coaches I guess and hopefully not telling them too much about us, but he won't be able to help himself," Hansen said yesterday. "He's a pretty competitive bugger so I'm sure he'll let a few secrets out."

No 8 Kieran Read agreed saying Henry's attention to detail was sure to have boosted the Argentine's preparation.

"It's hard to know how much influence he has on them. But he's a man who likes to do a lot of homework and so in terms of this team he'll have a few tricks up his sleeve."

It's not quite Hansen versus Henry, but the latter's involvement in the Pumas camp adds an intriguing element to the first test between the two countries since last year's Rugby World Cup quarterfinal.

Henry worked alongside Pumas coach Santiago Phelan for two weeks in June and was in camp with them again last month.

Argentina's players have spoken highly of Henry's influence and their 16-16 draw with South Africa suggests they have closed the gap on their southern hemisphere peers.

However, Hansen doesn't expect any major changes to the way the South Americans traditionally play.

"Their strengths are their strengths. Most teams play to their strengths and that's a wise thing to do.

"Just as we have our style of game and it hasn't changed much in probably 50 years, you just try to get better at it and they are probably doing the same thing."

Though the tourists will be something of a mystery to the average Kiwi rugby fan, Hansen and his coaches have done their homework.

"It was less than 12 months ago that we played the World Cup against them and what we've seen from them in the Rugby Championship, so there's plenty of info there, it's just making sure we get it right.

There will be particular interest in the influence of Toulon No 8 and captain Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe and whoever is selected at first five-eighth.

Juan Martin Hernandez was the preferred pivot, but missed the Pumas 16-all draw with the Springboks through injury with Bordeaux first five-eighth Nicolas Sanchez taking his place. 

None of that trio played against the All Blacks at the World Cup and the No 10 will play a crucial role in Wellington via their kicking game.

Hansen, who has a fully fit side to choose from including returning centre Conrad Smith, said any changes to the side that beat Australia in Auckland would be minimal.

But he did identify the All Blacks counter attack as an area that needed to improve.

"We weren't overly happy with how we went about it. We became quite individualistic in our counter," he said. "For effective counter rugby you need to use multiple people and use space and we didn't do that particularly well."

- © Fairfax NZ News