Henry assesses quality of Air NZ Cup

Henry: 'There is a decrease in standard'

All Blacks coach Graham Henry has had a dig at the Air New Zealand Cup, saying the standard of play is slipping.

The domestic tournament played in New Zealand has so far failed to inspire this year and the last five rounds has been of low quality, so the dissatisfaction will come as no surprise to astute judges of the game.

But given the assessment came from Henry, it will refuel concerns over the direction of the domestic game.

Henry has watched only a handful of games and "some were good, others poor". However, he's optimistic about the future of a competition that's under review.

"The second impact on the competition has been the expansion to 14 teams," Henry told the Sunday Star Times.

"That was always going to [water down standards]. But having said that there are players playing Air New Zealand Cup that will be All Blacks that are not All Blacks now.

"There is a decrease in standard.

"But you could not expect anything else given what has happened on the rugby scene in recent years."

A hallmark of the domestic competition has been its ability to unearth new players who eventually graduate to the All Blacks.

So far no new "finds" have announced themselves and Henry admits he has some homework to catch up on.

"When you think about it there are over 150 [New Zealand] players playing overseas that have played Super Rugby," he said.

"That is a huge number. So I think it is amazing that we have maintained reasonable standards in this country."