All Blacks: Few changes for Ireland says Henry

All Blacks coach Graham Henry. Photo / Getty Images

All Black coach Graham Henry yesterday promised few changes for the team to play Ireland on Saturday while admitting "80 per cent" of his World Cup squad had been decided.

The All Blacks are using this tour as a partial dress rehearsal for next year's big event, keeping the spine of the starting XV together while interchanging positions where there is genuine competition for places.

With just six tests before the start of the Cup and nine before the knockout phase, which has proven impossible for New Zealand to master in five attempts, the emphasis has been on building the game they want to play.

That is a dramatic shift away from the 2007 approach that saw the coaches try to build depth and contingency in every position at the fatal expense of establishing patterns and combinations.

"In 2006 we made a lot of changes from game to game ... We were trying to build depth in the squad and at that stage we'd had a hell of a good run of success," Henry said.

"In 2009 we got a bit of a lesson that we needed to build the team and build the rugby game we play. You can't build the rugby game if you're going to make 10 changes [every week]. You just go back to square one again.

"It's a matter of trying to get that balance right. There will be changes, but how many can we afford to make?"

They have a core of players who, injury and suspension notwithstanding, look set to play most, if not all, the tests between here and the World Cup, including Richie McCaw, Dan Carter, Mils Muliaina, Kieran Read, Brad Thorn, Tony Woodcock and Owen Franks.

"We've got an objective to try to build the team and I think there were some signs of that in the weekend," Henry said.

While acknowledging that the magnitude of their 49-3 weekend victory was inflated by a false set of circumstances - the All Blacks were match-hardened and looking for a good performance after two weeks of frustration, while Scotland were coming off a five-month lay-off - Henry saw foundation stones for future efforts.

While the ball movement, offloading and speed from which they converted turnovers to points were the most eye-catching features, it was the relentless physicality in the tackle and at the collision areas that startled the Scots and most impressed Henry.

"I didn't think we played with a huge amount of physicality in the first two games of the tour," Henry said, citing a long season and body clock adjustment as possible reasons.

"It's not an excuse but we were just a little bit off the pace. We'd really worked hard in the early season tests and the Tri-Nations was a big goal for us after 2009, so I just wondered if the edge had been taken off because we achieved a major goal."

The prospect of another lull in intensity next year does not worry Henry because of the season's contracted nature and the high stakes. For many, those stakes will be ratcheted up from the moment the Super Rugby kicks off in February.

"Some of the selections for the World Cup squad will be made as a result of the Super 15 next year. Probably 80 per cent of [the squad] is pretty clear. Twenty per cent, which is six players, is probably grey.

"There's probably half a dozen not on this tour because of injury, and some of the players on this tour are going to have to perform in the Super 15 to gain selection for the World Cup squad. I'd imagine whatever is selected for the Tri-Nations - I'm getting ahead of myself - will basically be the same that's selected for the World Cup."

The players not considered for this tour because of injury were Ali Williams, Corey Flynn, Richard Kahui, Israel Dagg, Piri Weepu and Adam Thomson. Sitiveni Sivivatu was selected but missed out after injuring himself training with Waikato.

SELECT COMPANY

If Graham Henry believes he has 80 per cent of his World Cup squad sorted, that means 24 players would have to get either injured, suspended or suffer a chronic lack of form to erase themselves from the coaches' thinking.

In all likelihood, they are still a man or two shy of that 80 per cent figure but here are 22 players, if fit, likely to be at the forefront of those discussions:

Richie McCaw, Mils Muliaina, Cory Jane, Sitiveni Sivivatu, Isaia Toeava, Israel Dagg, Ma'a Nonu, Conrad Smith, Sonny Bill Williams, Dan Carter, Jimmy Cowan, Piri Weepu, Kieran Read, Jerome Kaino, Brad Thorn, Sam Whitelock, Ali Williams, Tony Woodcock, Owen Franks, Ben Franks, Keven Mealamu and Andrew Hore.

Which would leave a group contenders hunting what Henry called the "grey" areas:

Rene Ranger, Joe Rokocoko, Richard Kahui, Zac Guildford, Robbie Fruean, Colin Slade, Aaron Cruden, Stephen Donald, Alby Mathewson, Andy Ellis, Brendon Leonard, Victor Vito, Liam Messam, Adam Thomson, Daniel Braid, Jason Eaton, Tom Donnelly, Anthony Boric, John Afoa, Wyatt Crockett, Neemia Tialata, Hika Elliot, Corey Flynn.