Henry praises way All Blacks defended

EDINBURGH // The New Zealand coach Graham Henry praised his experimental team's defending after the first leg of their grand glam tour ended with a 32-6 win over Scotland. The All Blacks also ran in four tries at Murrayfield and Henry said: "It was a good start to the tour of the UK. There was some quick defence out there when we were under the cosh. The Scots played with adventure and probably deserved a couple of tries."

Henry was pleased his side were able to keep their line intact as they remained unbeaten against Scotland. "I'm told there were nine line breaks by Scotland," he said. "That shows we're a bit rusty. But this was a first time together for this team". But Henry was not totally happy with his side's performance, and added: "We gave away far too many penalties." New Zealand's stiffest task was probably overcoming the Scots up front with the All Blacks' forwards coach Steve Hansen pointing out that his pack took time to gel.

"The forwards got better as the game went on," said Hansen, who was impressed by lock Anthony Boric. "He certainly showed the benefit of playing in the tri-nations. He scored a good try today to cap a good display." * Reuters