Henry spying on Boks to aid selection
November 19, 2000

Wales coach Graham Henry headed off to Ireland as part of a six-man spying mission leaving few clues behind as to his line-up against South Africa on Sunday.

Henry described his side as "complacent" and "inaccurate" after the 42-11 win over the USA on Saturday, when he fuelled the debate over who would get picked at outside-half by hauling try-scorer Arwel Thomas off after 67 minutes.

Neil Jenkins came on and scored the sixth and last Welsh try as they followed up a similar win over Samoa the previous week under the Millennium Stadium roof.

"Changes are possible," said Henry, adding that he would name his team on Wednesday although the official WRU line was for a Thursday announcement. "There will be some water under the bridge before the selectors sit down on Monday."

Henry and assistant coach Lynn Howells were among the Welsh delegation who left for Dublin on Sunday morning to watch the Boks beat Ireland 28-18. Skipper Mark Taylor was due to join them but twisted a knee against the USA and may have problems making the date with the Boks.

"We were complacent going into the [USA] match," Henry added, "and we played like it. No disrespect to the Americans but we didn't fulfil the expectations we had.

"We were inaccurate, and off the pace. When your minds are on the job, you are accurate."

A couple of poor missed penalties by Eagles outside-half Grant Wells aided the Welsh cause in front of 33,000 fans but Arwel Thomas saved the best moment until the 55th minute when he scored a fine individual try.

"It was an absolute gem," said Henry. "But the players didn't do themselves a lot of good in terms of selection."

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