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Former allies Graham Henry (L) and Piri Weepu will be on opposite sides in Wellington this week. - Source: Photosport -
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The All Blacks have no qualms with their former mentor sitting in the opposing coaches box when they play their first Rugby Championship match against Argentina in Wellington on Saturday night.
Eleven months after Sir Graham Henry coached the All Blacks to victory over the Pumas in their Rugby World Cup quarter-final, he will help prepare the Argentineans to do battle against his old charges.
Sir Graham said he would be attending team trainings this week wearing a Pumas kit and had not ruled out the possibility of sitting in the visitors' coaches box for the match at Westpac Stadium this weekend.
All Blacks halfback Piri Weepu accepted that his former coach would have given their opponents a few insights, but was largely unconcerned with the impact he would have on the Pumas' performance.
"I guess he (Sir Graham) probably would have just told them what we are going to bring the table," Weepu told reporters in Wellington this morning.
"We haven't spoken about it. We are just trying to focus on what they have to offer and work on that and make sure we come to the table with good preparation and we are ready to go on Saturday."
Weepu was a star performer when the two sides last met in the Rugby World Cup where Argentina fought hard to keep it close for three quarters of the game before the All Blacks ran away with a flattering 33-10 win in the final 20 minutes.
The halfback expected a similar approach from the Pumas in Wellington, with their uncompromising forward play a key component of their game.
"This year is going to be a huge learning curve for them playing in a competition like this, so I guess they are just going to keep on playing like they have been over the years and make improvements on that.
"We already know what they are going to bring and I guess we just have to make sure we don't get fooled by what they offer us in terms of how they are going to defend and what they are going to do on attack. I guess we try and counter what we have seen so far and improve on what we have done so far."
The improvements in the Pumas' performances have already been noted after they were beaten convincingly in their first game against the Springboks before fighting back to earn a hard fought draw at home the following week.
Weepu said there were no guarantees of a big win against the competition's newbies and the All Blacks were looking to improve on their performances so far this season.
"You can't really take them for granted. We know what they're capable of, they've proven over the past World Cup campaigns that they can match it with any team in the competition so for them to come out this Saturday, they'll definitely be proving that point.
"We've had five games so far and we've done really well, but these next two games are going to be a big test for us and we just have to make sure we go on from our last two games and improve on them and making sure that everyone ticks the boxes."