Hansen praises charges

NEW Zealand coach Steve Hansen praised the “composure” shown by an experimental All Blacks side after they came from behind to launch their tour of Europe with a 31-22 win over the Barbarians at Twickenham.

The world champions were in danger of defeat after falling 17-5 behind in Saturday’s first half against a Barbarians side where 10 of the starting XV were from New Zealand and not a single member of the matchday 23 a native European – a sign of how things have changed for a 127-yearold invitational team once built on British and Irish players.

But three converted tries in six second-half minutes turned the tide, with captain for the day Beauden Barrett – leading the side for the first time in place of rested regular skipper Kieran Read – adding the goalpoints.

Flyhalf Barrett was one of the few New Zealand players at Twickenham set to retain his place for the November 11 clash against France in Paris, the first full international of a trip also featuring Tests against Scotland and Wales.

By contrast, the bulk of the team that kicked off on Saturday in a match where a crowd of more than 62 000 witnessed nine tries in total, won’t be in action again until the All Blacks play a “French XV” in Lyon on November 14.

“A young side, we had to show some composure. A new skipper [Barrett], he showed a lot,” said Hansen. “There was a lot of good stuff there and some good learning,” he added after returning to the scene of New Zealand’s 2015 World Cup final win over Australia.

“We’ll see how they grow now between now and Lyon, that group.”

New Zealand may remain top of the world rankings but they have occasionally looked fallible this year, this with the British and Irish Lions holding the All Blacks to a 1-1 draw in a three-match series.

“They’re vulnerable, but they’re still travelling well,” said Barbarians coach Robbie Deans. — AFP