Henry gives half-term assessment of All Blacks

By John Mehaffey

EDINBURGH (Reuters) - In the measured tones of the schoolmaster he once was, New Zealand coach Graham Henry gave his half-term assessment of the All Blacks on Sunday evening.

"We are pretty happy really," Henry told a news conference after his team had defeated Scotland 40-0 at Murrayfield.

"We had a big week on the set piece and it came through well. I think we scrummed the best we have scrummed in the tournament which was a pleasing aspect.

"Our lineout went pretty well, defence okay. Attack? We scored six tries and blew a few."

Henry's summary underlined the reality of Sunday's match which was not so much a traditional test match as a rehearsal for the remainder of the World Cup.

Scotland coach Frank Hadden showed his hand on Friday when he elected to play a second XV and concentrate instead on Saturday's final Pool C match against Italy which will decide who accompanies the All Blacks into the quarter-finals.

New Zealand, who have never lost to Scotland, used the match to consolidate their scrum and work on their lineout.

The result was a contest which was effectively over before it started. A crowd of 64,558, including a large proportion of New Zealanders, turned up on a mild autumn afternoon to watch the tournament favourites.