 Umaga (left) believes Henry's British experience will be invaluable |
Tana Umaga believes lessons learned by the All Blacks' coaches during their time in the northern hemisphere will help them beat the Lions. Graham Henry was coach of Wales and the Lions in 2001, while Steve Hansen and Wayne Smith coached Wales and English club Northampton respectively.
"They understand the need for us to have a solid base at scrum, line-out and kick-off," said Umaga.
"That's something the British are best at. They seem so strong in that area."
Umaga said the coaches "have brought that knowledge to the All Blacks" and it was now up to the players to make use of the information. "The coaches have been in the game a long time and they are just sharing their knowledge with us and it's up to us to get on to it and learn and take it all in," Umaga added.
"Graham's trying to mould both cultures of rugby together, our love of the open game and trying to use all the players with the UK-based emphasis on the forward pack.
"It's hard when you have a lot of knowledge and you're trying to give it to other people but the other people are reluctant to change their ways.
"But the players we have want to learn everything we can."
MMIX
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