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Rugby-New Zealand coach Henry berates weakened touring sides

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-05-29 15:26

New Zealand coach Graham Henry has criticised northern hemisphere sides who have selected under-strength touring parties to protect their leading players in World Cup year.

Henry, who on Tuesday named a strong line-up to face France in the first test in Auckland at the weekend, also urged the International Rugby Board (IRB) to act so that end-of-season fixtures in Europe did not affect tours again.

French coach Bernard Laporte is due to name his team for Saturday's Eden Park test on Wednesday after selecting a squad decimated by absentees because of the final two weeks of the national championship.

Players from Stade Francais, Biarritz, Toulouse and Clermont Auvergne were unavailable and, added to injuries, Laporte named 14 uncapped players in his 26-man squad.

"I think the IRB needs to lead and lead very strongly and work with the clubs in Europe to ensure we preserve this great game and at the moment there's not a lot of sign of that," Henry told reporters on Tuesday.

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"When sides are coming to this side of the world that are not as strong as they should be -- that's not good for the game."

England had around 30 players unavailable for their series against South Africa, and the world champions slumped to a 58-10 rout in Saturday's first test in Bloemfontein.

Wales omitted 18 first-choice players from their squad for the two tests against Australia, but accredited themselves considerably better with a 29-23 defeat to a last-minute try in Sydney.

"The All Blacks team that went to Europe last November was the best All Blacks team we could put on the track," Henry said.

"We're holding up our end of the bargain, we're showing a lot of integrity there. We're putting the international game first but it's not a good situation at the moment.

"To have the French competition's semi-final and final over the next two Saturdays, for me that's organisational chaos for the game.

"How can the international board and the French federation not have their heads together on that one? These things need to be talked about and solved. The game's bigger than that."

The second test against France is in Wellington on June 9.