All Blacks to keep up juggling act

Confirmed quarter-finalists New Zealand will maintain a delicate balancing act in their final Pool A match against Canada on Sunday.

All Blacks assistant coach Steve Hansen said the nucleus of the team would play at Wellington Regional Stadium for the sake of continuity, but the coaches were also conscious of keeping fresh those who may be needed as cover.

"What we'd like to do is pick the core of the team again, but there have been some people who have been injured and there are a handful who need some rugby.

"So how we do that, whether we put them all in the starting line-up or bring some in off the bench, is to be discussed,” Hansen said.

"Our last performance (37-17 win over France) was pretty good, but there are still things we’d like to do better like playing the game at more pace, with more accuracy, more intensity and apply more pressure to the opposition.”

Hansen said there were no major injuries, although wing Richard Kahui (hamstring) is unlikely to play and back row Adam Thomson (knee and ankle) may be rested.

Great record

Hansen confirmed that Kieran Read, despite rolling his ankle at training on Wednesday, would play, but not for the full 80 minutes.

He said there were plenty of options if either Read or Thomson were sidelined.

"We've got good cover with both AB (Anthony Boric) and Sam (Whitelock). We're pretty happy at this stage where everyone's at. Our numbers are fine.

"Sam's definitely capable of playing at that level at loose forward and AB's a pretty good athlete as well. You may not necessarily want them both on there at the same time but sometimes you can't control the circumstances."

Hansen said the All Blacks had not started planning for a quarter-final against likely opponents Argentina, saying: "Not yet, no. I mean that would be disrespectful to Canada."

Sunday's match marks 100 Tests in charge for New Zealand coach Graham Henry. His long-standing servant Hansen added: "I don't think you'll see another head coach do that, it's a long campaign.

"He's been pretty successful with it, too. He's got a great record, hasn't he? About 85 to 86 per cent (success rate). The rest of us just tagged along for the ride."

The All Blacks will name their team on Friday.