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Cape Town - Former World Cup-winning All Blacks coach Graham Henry has labelled New Zealand’s domination of world rugby as "boring" for the game.
Henry, who coached the All Blacks to World Cup glory in 2011, was speaking in Dubai on Thursday where he was a guest at the Emirates Airline Rugby Long Lunch.
Henry welcomed signs of improvement from Australia and South Africa towards the latter stages of the Rugby Championship.
The Wallabies nearly beat the All Blacks in Dunedin, with only a late try by flyhalf Beauden Barrett giving the Kiwis a 35-29 win.
The Springboks were hammered 57-0 by the All Blacks in Albany, before rebounding to almost win the return Test in Cape Town last weekend, losing 25-24.
"I haven't coached in six years. And the game's changed immensely in that six years. What the All Blacks have done is been initiators in that change, they're inventive,” Henry was quoted as saying on the Stuff.co.nz website.
"They didn't score a try from their own ball initially against South Africa. Two turnovers and an intercept, whereas South Africa had to build their tries,” Henry said.
Henry lauded the All Blacks for being ruthless when afforded opportunities but said he wanted to see them challenged.
"Their ability to take advantage of opportunities is probably their X factor. And once they see the opportunity, they execute it," Henry said. "That's probably the step other sides haven't made yet. South Africa may have played the better game, but got beat by a point. So I don't think the gap is too big. Which is great, it's what rugby needs. It doesn't need one team that's unbeatable, because that's boring."
