All Blacks: Rugby too fast for one ref - Henry

Alan Lewis. Photo / Greg Bowker

The high-tempo game most rugby teams have adopted under the new law interpretations have made refereeing too difficult for one person, says All Black coach Graham Henry.

After the Grand Slam-clinching test against Wales on Sunday, a game in which the All Blacks were hammered 17-8 by referee Alan Lewis, Henry has called for two referees to be appointed to matches.

He believes the decision-making of referees this season has got worse as matches have progressed and fatigue begins to take its toll.

"It would be a good idea to have two referees. You sub the first one when he's buggered and get the second one on," he said. "I'm not being stupid. I honestly believe it would be an asset for the game because they do get into oxygen debt and then they struggle to make good decisions.

"Anything to help the game would be good and I think that would be a positive."

Lewis did look as if he was struggling to keep pace with the game, but he would not be alone in that regard: we're talking about men significantly older than the combatants who are asked to get to every breakdown and follow every piece of action over 80 enervating minutes.

Henry was particularly disappointed with the decision to sinbin Daniel Braid and when you look at what his offence was compared with the non-decision to penalise Andy Powell for smacking Richie McCaw across the chops, you can sympathise to a degree.

Still, there are plenty of people north of the equator who believe yellow cards and high penalty counts against the All Blacks are nothing more than comeuppance.

"I thought we struggled with the ref against Wales.

"We didn't get the bounce of the ball - a bit like 2007, when we couldn't get a roll with the ref.

"That's the way it is, the way it happens and you've just got to handle that and they handled it well."

The new law interpretations at the tackle have made for a better spectacle and Henry believes the refs are more consistent in that area, but the scrum is still a huge worry.

Fellow selector Steve Hansen yesterday talked about not even bothering to push on opposition ball because it just leads to a penalty when the other team falls over.

"There's too much emphasis on the loosehead, rather than the tighthead," Henry explained.

"We've got to keep communicating. They [the refs] want to do a good job, we want to play well, let's try to get on the same page."