Rugby: All Blacks performances just a blip, says NZRU

Neil Sorensen. Photo supplied

Doom and gloom over recent All Blacks performances do not extend to the New Zealand Rugby Union.

General manager of professional rugby Neil Sorensen said yesterday head coach Graham Henry and assistants Steve Hansen and Wayne Smith retained the confidence of the NZRU.

The tenure of the coaching panel has been a hot topic in recent weeks after three losses in six matches so far this year, including lame displays in consecutive Tri-Nations defeats, 29-18 and 31-19, by world champions South Africa.

"We have total faith that these guys are going to be the best to take us through the next ... 22 months [to the World Cup]," Sorensen told Radio Sport.

"We don't want to change these guys now. We think certainty is the key thing to have."

He said the reason why NZRU had made an early decision to extend the contracts of Henry and co until after the 2011 World Cup instead of waiting until the end of this season, was to create some certainty for the players, support staff and others around the All Blacks.

"These guys have got a fantastic track record, they are world-class and the key thing was to get a decision out early and get some certainty in the environment."

There were options should the All Blacks' year continue to go from bad to worse, but sacking the coaches was not on anyone's agenda.

"Like any job there's reviews at the end of the year, but these reviews aren't about how we can sack these people - they're about how we can do things better."

However, if things went really bad this year, Sorensen indicated the coaches might initiate changes themselves.

"The guys themselves, if they had a shocking year and everything started to disintegrate ... they'd be the first to put their hands up and say things aren't tracking well and maybe we should be reviewing it."

The displays against South Africa were a "blip", and maybe not even a negative thing to be happening this far out from a World Cup, he felt.

"If we'd breezed through the June internationals like Southern Hemisphere teams tend to do and won the Tri-Nations again like we've done in the past, it might not have uncovered some flaws that might be there."

- NZPA