All Blacks coach Graham Henry has leapt to the defence of his under-siege skipper Richie McCaw, claiming England's accusations of impropriety on behalf of his champion No 7 are nothing short of frustration.

Amongst a tirade of barbs thrown the All Blacks' way at the start of the test week build up in Christchurch, England's stand-in coach Rob Andrew alleged that: McCaw was a cheat at the breakdown; the All Blacks, not England, were the villains at scrum time; that two of the four New Zealand tries from last weekend came through forward passes; and that referee Nigel Owens had stayed at the home team's hotel last week, which just wasn't right.

Henry was asked about the inevitable game of coach one-upmanship that takes place between back-to-back tests involving the same two countries, and largely he failed to give the grandstanding tactics too much credence.

But, clearly, he did not rate Andrew's suggestions that McCaw was such a transgressor that he deserved to be bedecked in English livery for the next game so he at least could be recognised from whence he came.

"I'm going to give Richie McCaw an England shirt so when he comes in on our side he's got a white shirt on," Andrew said in response to claims England were cynical at the tackle situation.

But Henry had his own response to those accusations when asked about them at Tuesday's team announcement.

"Well, that's an old story, isn't it," said the All Blacks coach. "It happens every time we play against European sides. They're always contesting his legality at the tackle area.

"I guess we're used to it. He's the best player in the world in that particular position, at that particular skill, and people find it hard to handle.

"We think we're very fortunate to have a player of that immense ability to play that particular position which attracts a bit of interest because he does turn over a bit of ball."

Henry went on to spell out why McCaw's leadership was so crucial to this All Blacks' lineup.

"He's got better and better and stronger as skipper," said the ABs coach. "That's important to the team."

As for the forward passes that Andrew alleged played a part in two of the four All Blacks tries last weekend at Eden Park, Henry claimed "I didn't notice, personally...."

To which an English journo remarked, "That's what Rob said".

Henry then didn't miss a beat: "Well we agree on something."

Given that Henry had started the whole fuss off by questioning the England scrum after the Eden Park test, labelling it "passive", and that the tourists had responded in kind by levelling accusations of their own, Henry conceded there was an element of the pre-test bluster about it all.

"I think we're probably both right, aren't we," said Henry. "If there's a contestable scrum we're going to get a better product if both sides contest scrum results. It's going to be better all-round for spectators and players and what we're trying to achieve in the game. It's good we agree on that."

Then it came time to discuss the presence of Welsh referee Nigel Owens in the All Blacks' hotel last week. It had been noticed by a number of people, including Andrew who alleged some impropriety that such a placement had taken place.

But Henry shrugged off any suggestions that there was anything malicious involved.

"I didn't even notice. If Nigel Owens was in our hotel that was news to me. Nigel's really welcome in any hotel any time he wants to stay in one..." And in terms of this weekend's ref Jonathan Kaplan, Henry added: "If he wants stay in our hotel that's fine; I probably won't notice him then either."

But Henry then turned on his scary face for just a minute.

"Rules are rules and we don't discuss the game with referees prior. We haven' done that because they're the rules. I don't know if there's any advantage being in one hotel or the other."

Henry even conceded that, occasionally, coaches were prone to the odd objection in the midst of a tough test build up week.

"Coaches say unusual things at times... even I might have said some unusual things over the years... It's not an ideal situation if you look at it, but it wasn't a factor," added Henry of the Owens situation.

It's all largely much ado about nothing. All that really counts is how the 30 men who go head to head on Saturday feel once the real battle begins.