Final has no bearing for Henry's All Blacks selections

Graham Henry

All Blacks coach Graham Henry can watch Saturday night's Super 14 rugby final like any other punter, happy two New Zealand teams are involved and relaxed that his giant international squad has already been selected.

Injuries aside, Henry said the final between the Crusaders and Hurricanes at Jade Stadium would have no impact on the 39 names read out on Sunday morning for tests next month against Ireland and Argentina.

The All Blacks selectors will announce 24 players for the two home tests against Ireland and another 15 to prepare specifically for the clash with the Pumas in Buenos Aires on June 24.

The 15 for Argentina will be made up almost entirely of players involved in Saturday's final, with Henry eager to rest as many of them as possible through the Ireland series.

That is not a hard and fast rule.

Crusaders skipper Richie McCaw is already confirmed to captain the All Blacks in the first Irish test at Hamilton on June 10. And there are likely to be some other players in Saturday's final named for the Ireland series, potentially introduced for the second test in Auckland.

Henry didn't want to discuss selection details but he was happy to reflect on the form of the two Super 14 finalists.

He said they had stood out in a competition where the overall standard was mixed, largely because the length of the four-month season made it hard for sides to peak consistently and the two new teams had diluted the strength in Australia and South Africa.

"But those two franchises in the final can be quite proud of the performances, I think they've both been quite outstanding," he said.

The Hurricanes had shown signs of their quality in recent years and had now taken another step forward.

"The backbone they've shown in the last two weeks (beating the Waratahs twice) has been quite outstanding really and perhaps that shows how they've grown over the last year," he said.

"They've been gradually improving, I think (coach) Colin Cooper's done a great job with them and they've got a large number of players now who are pretty mature footballers and they're showing that by their performance."

The Crusaders remained the benchmark, Henry said, in terms of consistency and high-quality.

"They're very well coached, they've got some very good players, know what they're doing and they've got home advantage for the final. I would imagine they'll go into it as favourites."

- NZPA