Comfortable, but coach not happy

New Zealand coach Steve Hansen admitted to feeling frustrated despite the All Blacks romping to a 38-18 victory in France on Saturday and scoring their 2 000th try.

The tourists were at their rampant best in the first 40 minutes, running in four tries and threatening a record victory over the French when they led 31-5 at the break.

But they were kept scoreless until the final move of the match in the second period, not getting close to the record 61-10 victory achieved in Wellington some 10 years ago.

“We lost our discipline a little (in the second half), as result of that we allowed the momentum to shift and the French were good enough to take that opportunity and put us under pressure,” said Hansen.

“Having said that, I’m happy with the way we fought our way through it and we scored a good try at the end.

“We scored enough points in the first half to get the job done.

“We gave away 11 penalties, I think, in the second half and some pretty basic ones from just being offside.”

He also lamented the fact that cross-code star Sonny Bill Williams seemingly didn’t know the rules when conceding a penalty try and getting sin-binned for batting the ball intentionally out of play from inside the All Blacks’ try area.

“He doesn’t know the rules because he was playing Rugby League,” quipped Hansen. “In League rules you’re allowed to smash the ball over the line.”

His Rugby League skills, however, created a try in th first half when Ryan Crotty pounced on Williams’s grubber kick to notch the 2,000th All Blacks try in international rugby.

“I had no idea, that’s pretty cool,” admitted Crotty of his landmark. – AFP