Say on reasons to be move and ending run
there has been no influence from the union in terms of a decision.
Having spoken to George there was no pressure on him to make a decision now; it was a case of take a bit of time, see what happens. One of our regions doesn’t have a coach appointed for next season, maybe wait to see who their appointment is and see what is happening with the other regions before he makes a decision on where he would like to go and potentially if that region wants him to go there. Q: Have you any of the English-based players available for next week (against South Africa)? A: We know that Toby (Faletau) is available. Q: And Jamie Roberts? A: I hope so. Q: How important is it to stop Sonny Bill Williams at source? A: We saw last week (against Scotland) some of his off-loading threats and we saw it in the summer as well, his ability to get his arms free and off-load and free up the back-line. He scored a pretty special try on the weekend. We have spoken about trying to limit that threat. There is no doubt a player of his ability with the ball will expose us and get the ball away - we have just got to be able to react to that. Q: What are the reasons that make you excited and believe you can end this losing run? A: The reason we are excited is probably the way the players have prepared themselves.
We have got a group of players in the squad, some of them have had success, obviously in a different jersey.
I think in the past, and rightly so, the All Blacks, having been the best team in the world consistently, you kind of have almost that fear factor about playing them.
The fact that some of these players have played them on a regular basis, it is not kind of that sort of trepidation, I suppose, in terms of familiarity.
These guys have prepared really well this week.
They just seem calm and not so nervous and uptight as they may have been in the past. Q: They have a few key guys absent, what are you thoughts on that? A: They are still the best team in the world. They could put out a fourth, fifth, sixth-strength team and still beat most teams because of the quality of players that they have.
They are obviously probably missing seven or eight of their regular starters from 12 months ago, but in saying that, it is an opportunity they get to develop some depth, and we are going through the same process. We have got four or five of our key players out as well and it is a good chance for us to develop some depth as well. Q: Do you take any encouragement from what Scotland did last week? A: Scotland continued to play and put them under pressure. They were bold in the way they played and seemed to play with a free spirit, which was really encouraging.