Oh Henry

Wales coach says losing acceptable in U.K.

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Posted: Wednesday October 20, 1999 01:43 PM

Graham Henry: "In New Zealand rugby you expect to be the best in the world. That's not part of the culture here." Gary M. Prior/Allsport

LONDON (AP) -- Wales coach Graham Henry believes one of the keys to the All Blacks' domination of rugby is that defeat really hurts whereas Northern hemisphere countries can be too indifferent.

"I think they take defeat much more to heart in New Zealand than in this part of the world," Henry, a New Zealander, said. "From where I come from and my background, it's a no-no to get beaten.

"In New Zealand rugby you expect to be the best in the world. That's not part of the culture here. I can't change that. I guess generations, education and what the sport stands for in this part of the world may change that.

"I think the guys are deeply disappointed about their performance against Samoa and they want to play much better against Australia. But on the surface, I don't think they take defeats as inwardly as the All Blacks do, for example ... That's probably why the U.K. underachieves in sport."

Where are the fans?

"You would hardly know there is a World Cup being played," the fullback said after arriving at the All Blacks camp in Edinburgh on Tuesday. "There isn't much hype and it is rather disappointing."

"It is a great opportunity to see top class rugby and the people are not here. It is very frustrating for all the players."

When New Zealand trounced Italy 101-3 in Huddersfield last week in its final group match, the stadium was packed with Kiwi fans, but relatively few neutrals showed up.

"We might as well have been in Auckland when we played at Huddersfield," Wilson said.

Guscott Injured

Guscott, 34, failed to make the starting lineup against Italy because of injury, and was then dropped for the match against Tonga after a subdued performance against the All Blacks.

But he was then drafted back for the Tonga game when Phil de Glanville was ruled out through injury on the eve of the match.

England's doctors are now assessing the damage.

"Jerry couldn't be considered for the Fiji game because of a groin problem, and we don't know how serious it is," said England coach Clive Woodward.

Spare tickets

Increased capacities at Twickenham and Cardiff have brought that total attendance from the 30 group qualifiers to 931,000 -- eclipsing the number of people that watched the whole 1995 World Cup in South Africa.

But in Scotland, fans have stayed away in droves, and a mere 3,500 turned out to see the Springboks play Uruguay. While attendance in Wales are pushing the 300,000 mark so far, Scotland hasn't yet even reached six figures.

Another 250,000 people are expected to watch the quarterfinals, and the final count is expected to be around the 1.5 million mark.

Tongans to Worcester

Backs Sateki Tuipulotu, Tonga's record scorer and a former Leeds Tyke and Sililo Martens, a former member of the Auckland squad, will be joining the club after the World Cup.

"Both Sateki and Sililo are exciting, explosive players and we are very pleased that they will soon be part of our squad," said Worcester director of rugby Les Cusworth.

 

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