Hansen warns of the Henry factor
All Blacks coach Steve Hansen believes New Zealand's former head coach, Graham Henry, is having an even greater impact over Argentina this year.
And the Pumas fully support the view that view, suggesting the influence of Henry will be evident in Saturday's Rugby Championship encounter with the Kiwis in Hamilton.
Hansen said Henry's impact showed through in Argentina's latest match against the Springboks – a game won narrowly 22-17 by South Africa, after the Boks demolished the Pumas 73-13 a week earlier.
"He's a great man for no line-outs and no scrums, when playing the South Africans, because that's where they launch their game from and I think they only got three or four line-outs," Hansen said.
Pumas scrumhalf Martin Landajo said Henry's helping them change their traditional defence-oriented game to be more attack minded.
Landajo said Henry's pushing a new style.
"It's not very complicated, but he wants us to have more of the ball, to play with the ball, to know how to play with it, just simple things, but effective."
He said a large part of that comes in their attitude to kicking.
"He wants us to kick to get the ball back again. He wants us to kick as a part of the attack.
"To kick and get pressure on that ball, not just kick the ball because we don't know what to do."
Landajo said a large part of that is changing their approach to kicking, where they no longer just kick because they've got nothing better to do.
Source: Newstalk ZB
