All Blacks victorious in historic encounter but Henry admits standard of play fell short
History was made, but the final chapter in this year's Bledisloe Cup series was hardly one for the memory bank as the All Blacks 'won ugly' at Hong Kong Stadium yesterday.
The 19-14 victory over the Wallabies will give them great satisfaction as they head this morning for Scotland, the first leg of their grand slam tour. But they were the first to admit that it wasn't a riveting performance.
'The guys would've said they won ugly,' said New Zealand coach Graham Henry bluntly. 'But it was a typical All Blacks test, hard as hell and they showed a lot of guts to hit back.'
A second-half revival, partly inspired by Dan Carter moving back to his accustomed and preferred slot at flyhalf, gave the All Blacks a satisfying win in the ANZ Hong Kong 2008 Bledisloe Cup over the old enemy and saw them end the series with a 3-1 tally. It might have been the strange feeling of running out at So Kon Po, or perhaps the stifling humidity made worse by a pre-game shower, but it took time for Richie McCaw and his men to find their feet - not made easier by the poor conditions underfoot.
But McCaw refused to blame the slippery surface - after all it was the same for the Wallabies, too - for his side's lethargic first-half performance. 'The conditions were not too bad, actually it was a pretty good surface to play on,' he said. 'But we took a while to settle down.'