Graham Henry says no words will be needed from him before he sends his All Blacks out to play the World Cup final on Sunday night at Eden Park.

Graham Henry says no words will be needed from him before he sends his All Blacks out to play the World Cup final on Sunday night at Eden Park.

The squawking and the talking will have been done… all that remains is the action.

Henry confirmed today after naming an unchanged starting XV to face the French in the biggest game of these players’ lives that he will not be calling on any inspirational words to fire his troops before they run out on Eden Park.

“I don’t talk… seriously,” the All Blacks coach told a packed press conference that included 27 television cameras and representatives from all corners of the globe.

“Sunday night before they run out on the field is their time. It has to be their time. They’ve got to get their own minds right and settled and on the job.

“People talking to them at that time is an absolute waste of time. In fact it is a distraction. There will be words that will be said today and words said tomorrow. Personally I don’t believe the right time to talk to teams is just before they play.”

Of course this group of All Blacks have been together for so long that they have their buildup down pat. Their strategies, motivations and mindsets are all long ago in place. Their buttons have already been pushed.

But Henry felt preparation, and in particular the degree of it, was all-important this week.

“We haven’t experienced this before – it’s finals football. But the guys have prepared well. This is our 12th test in 14 weeks. I don’t think that’s ever happened before, so the constant rugby is pretty demanding. It takes a toll on the body and mind so we’ve just got to make sure we dovetail what we do to that situation.

“We can’t be over-physical at training — and we haven’t been — and we’ve just got to prepare accordingly.

“I think the biggest challenge is being astute in what you do. Hopefully we can get as full a tank as possible on Sunday and if we overdo it physically we won’t have that situation.”

Henry also said there was no way the French were being under-estimated among the All Blacks, despite the unimpressive nature of their path to this final.

“This French team, we’re not sure who’s going to turn up quite frankly. We’ve got to prepare as though they’re going to be the best in the world. They’ve certainly got the individuals to do that. It’s just whether they produce that as a side.

“The word is they’ve prepared well, that they’re very focused and enjoying the underdog tag and using as much of the ammunition they can through the media to get themselves up there.

“They feel they’re not being considered in this final by a lot of people, but we don’t think that. We think they’re a very good rugby team, they’ve got some outstanding players and it’s going to be a huge final.”

He saw Sunday’s opponents as a bit of a mixture between the pragmatism of quarterfinal victim Argentina — “They make no mistakes because they don’t play any rugby” — and the backline threats that can “cut you to pieces” in the Wallabies whom the All Blacks despatched in the semifinal.

“Their forward pack is as good as any we’ll play in this competition, their scrum is very good, they’ve got a world-class loose trio and backs who can bite you. There’s a combination of both there.”

Henry said his only change to the match night squad – bringing fit-again Otago loose forward Adam Thomson in to the reserves for Wellington youngster Victor Vito – had not been a difficult choice.

“Adam has played big test match football, so he’s had that experience, he played against the French in the first round. He’s played well. He’s got more of a track record playing international rugby at this level.

“Victor has come a long way and this is not a reflection of his ability. It’s just one has been here before and played big test matches before, and the other one hasn’t.”

Henry confirmed that injured stars Dan Carter and Mils Muliaina had continued to play key roles in the preparation of the squad for this game.

“Mils and Dan have been close to the side right through. They’re in the leadership group, they have been for a long time, they’re very influential players and in their own way, using their own personalities they have helped immensely.

“Dan is spending time with Aaron Cruden, just chatting quietly and that’s an immense help. Mils with Israel has been the same. Both run individual operating units, so the back three unit have meetings and Mils runs that, and Dan runs the inside backs, and still does.

“We have leadership meetings and they’re at those. Don’t tell the IRB — it’s a secret. They are at those meetings and contribute which is very important. They’ve had an immense influence over this side for the last eight or nine years. They’re hugely frustrated they can’t be involved in the game but they can be involved in the preparation which is a hell of an important.”

– Stuff