THE HERALD REPORTS


Hadden remarks spark angerAll Blacks chiefs fear that Scotland could deliver a jolt to their World Cup dream by sending a second-string side into battle at Murrayfield.

Frank Hadden, the Scotland coach, sparked anger in New Zealand by hinting that he will keep his top men fresh for the likely make-or-break clash with Italy six days later.

Former Kiwi supremo Laurie Mains claimed the tournament favourites may come unstuck through lack of real competition in the group stages in September.
, who led New Zealand to the World Cup final in 1995 in South Africa, said: "The situation is a worry for our coach Graham Henry. A full-strength Scotland would be a great build-up game for the All Blacks but, if every match in the pool turns out to be easy, it would be a real concern.

"You need good, hard warm-up matches in preparation for the challenges that await in the knock-out stages, and clearly they are not going to get that.

It is a difficult situation for Graham to deal with.

"All you can do is strive for perfection in everything little thing you do in every game. But if you are knocking up 50 or 60 points in the group matches, which they should do, it is very hard to find things to correct. A lot of it will be about the players keeping their focus."

This article was posted on 11-Jun-2007, 08:13 by Hugh Barrow.