My intentions were honourable: Kaino

The All Blacks’ remains intact.

Their test series, against the British and Irish Lions, is generating a lot of what New Zealand assistant coach Ian Foster called ‘‘noise.’’ Little of it related to the acts of preparing for and playing rugby matches.

Are the All Blacks thugs? Did they set out to maim Lions halfback Conor Murray last Saturday? Do they encourage newspapers to portray visiting coaches as clowns? Does criticism wound them? Have they or will they have a beer with Lions coach Warren Gatland? The peripheral aspects of this test series that Foster was asked to address came thick and fast yesterday.

‘‘I wouldn’t say it’s water off the duck’s back but the more that’s at stake, the more people want to do what they need to do to get their team an advantage. I don’t know whether people like it or don’t like, but it is what it is,’’ Foster said.

‘‘We don’t take it as personal, it’s just what some people do, so if we start sulking about that then we’re going to get upset and distracted and isn’t that the objective of it? So we’ve just got to stay in our own mind really clear and focused about what we do and remember that, whatever happens Sunday to Friday, it’s about a game of rugby on Saturday and we have to be ready.’’

Foster and Gatland know each other. They were team-mates at Waikato and friends. Work has taken Gatland to Wales, but his family live down the road from Foster’s in Hamilton.

So more than who the All Blacks might pick this week or how they might tackle the Lions during Saturday’s test at Westpac Stadium in Wellington, people appear anxious to hear about how cordial things remain between the Mooloo Men.

‘‘Whenever he’s back I’ll often

self-esteem see Gatty but the jobs have meant we haven’t caught up with each other a lot...had a yak to him in the middle of the park at Eden Park before the game [last week],’’ said Foster.

‘‘You kind of understand the pressures everyone’s under, when you’re doing similar jobs, so he’s doing what he thinks is the best for his team, we’re doing what we think’s the best for our team. But at the end of the day it’s important to catch up and just have a yarn to people as mates and that’ll happen after the third test.’’

Ah, but how is Foster turning that relationship to the All Blacks’ advantage? You see, it’s not enough to just know someone from way back; there has to be an ulterior motive.

‘‘Look, you’re asking me a lot of questions about what I think Warren thinks. I think you should probably ask Warren what he thinks,’’ Foster said.

‘‘I’m not trying to be smart, but I’m pretty focused on what we do here and - surprise, surprise - Saturday’s going to be a massive test and I’ll just re-iterate that. We’ve had two weeks of a lot of noise early in the weeks and it seems to keep you guys pretty excited, which is good.

‘‘But at the end of the day, our job as coaches is to put all that stuff to one side.’’ Short of thumping the table laden with microphones, Jerome Kaino made his point. Six times, at least.

‘‘No, it’s never our intent to go out and injure someone,’’ the All Blacks flanker said. And again. And again.

If Kaino was indeed unhappy with his first test performance in the 30-15 win over the Lions in Auckland - as he later claimed - this show was highly impressive in a packed function room at the team’s Wellington hotel.

With team-mate Ardie Savea seated alongside, lights beaming, cameras rolling, questions flying for the first 10 minutes in various British, Irish and New Zealand accents, Kaino stood firm and defended stoutly, to what the All Blacks saw as allegations he tried to injure Lions halfback Conor Murray’s left leg.

‘‘I’ve seen it [replay] reviewing the game and it’s popped up on my Twitter feed about a million times so it’s a bit hard to avoid it. I guess people have their opinions on it and all I can say is, it wasn’t my intention to go out there and target his planted foot,’’ Kaino said.

‘‘It’s never nice when you have things done to you outside the laws. The way we do things is within the spirit of the game.’’

It almost appeared that Kaino volunteered for media duties yesterday, such was his desire to clear his name.

It all kicked off on Sunday night when Lions coach Warren Gatland raised the issue, saying players launching themselves at Murray could be career-ending for the halfback whose accurate box kicking is central to the Lions’ game. ‘‘It’s concerning that they’re not trying to charge the kick down because they’re nowhere near it, they’re diving blindly and hitting someone’s leg,’’ Gatland said.

Certainly on replay, Kaino’s 10th-minute dart around the side of the ruck and dive at Murray’s planted (left) leg looked bad as the halfback crumpled but was uninjured.

Can you clear up whether there was any intent? Was it a timing issue? Do you think you were lucky to escape a citing for it? To the latter query, Kaino responded: ‘‘I don’t know. It wasn’t my intention to hurt anyone and to play outside the rules. I wasn’t cited so I don’t think I should have been.’’

Then, what was Kaino intending to do? It was an issue in the NFL in the United States, and Australia’s NRL, where defenders diving at the legs of kickers was outlawed to protect them from serious injury.

‘‘I didn’t go in to tackle him. I rolled into his leg. What I was trying to do was… his swinging [right] foot, if you can disrupt that it’s like an ankle tap so you can disrupt the kick.

‘‘My timing was off and I rolled into his planted foot and that’s what I believe happened. If that’s clear enough.’’ Yes, it was. All Blacks coach Steve Hansen made his feelings clear the previous day when took umbrage at suggestions his players intended to injure. He labelled Gatland ‘‘a bit desperate’’ for raising the issue publicly. A clear and predictable tactic to take the heat off his own team, Hansen said, as Gatland faces a huge week to try and lift the tourists and keep the series alive. The pressure is skyrocketing after the All Blacks’ first test dominance.

Still, Gatland appeared to achieve one goal of protecting Murray from any cheap shots, and bringing it to French referee Jerome Garces’ attention for Saturday’s Wellington test.

Said Kaino: ‘‘Obviously there’s more attention being brought to it and it’s obviously a strength of the Lions, that kicking game. We need to make sure we’re on the right side of the law when we do things. I thought I was there, but I’ll be a little bit more cautious.’’