Who said this was going to be a difficult week for Graham Henry? The All Blacks coach came out on the eve of the second test against England with some feelgood for the people of Canterbury and some feel sorry for his opponents on Saturday night.

Yes, it's all good for the All Blacks coach who has come south to Robbie Deans country (also his home town, it should be noted) and felt nothing but love from a Red and Black fraternity who may now be getting over the fact that the preferred choice of many missed out on the top job.

Two straight victories to open the new season and a fresh new era of All Blacks rugby now getting into stride has probably helped on that front, too.

There have also been some, er, distractions to help take the spotlight off Henry this week, with the England team enveloped in a cloud of controversy over the alleged misbehaviour of some players following last Saturday's first-test defeat in Auckland.

No wonder, then, that Henry was in fairly relaxed mode when he faced the media for the final time pre-test at the team hotel on Friday.

"Christchurch has been fine," said Henry, when asked if he'd had to hunker down this week, or had felt the love around town. "It's good to come back to the old home town. I've seen a lot of people and they've been very positive, thank-you."

Henry said he had been out and about during the week and "the people have been extremely friendly and positive - I haven't had a negative, in fact. I haven't had a negative since the World Cup directly".

And Henry's warm fuzzies most definitely extended to the under-siege English who have had to face a barrage of media pressure over the allegations and other suggestions of post-match impropriety.

"I don't know what the details are, but I know there's a bit going on," said Henry. "You don't want any sporting team to be going through those situations.

"You live in that sort of life yourselves - in the international sporting environment. I think you've got a lot of sympathy for people who go through that situation.

"Certainly you just like to be supportive."

Whether that support or sympathy would extend to anything on the field is extremely doubtful, but there's no doubt the All Blacks are wary of the binding effect the English problems could have on their performance at AMI Stadium.

Skipper Richie McCaw said he was "expecting a better England team" this week. The first-up defeat alone would have ensured that, he reckoned.

Henry, meanwhile, said he had enjoyed his first three weeks back with the All Blacks, though he conceded it had been a time full of "pressure" due to the short turnaround after the Super 14.

"There's been pressure on the players to get things right in a hurry and pressure on the coaches to try to help that ... it's been enjoyable, but a lot of pressure to get things done in a short period of time."

Henry anticipated those anxieties easing a little heading into the Tri-Nations when there wasn't the same concentration of matches over a short period, and with much of the foundation work already done.

When it was pointed out that he had helped create some of that pressure this week by his four personnel changes and additional two positional switches, Henry said that was pain for a gain.

"Some players needed to play this test match to make sure when they get opportunities in the Tri-Nations they're ready.

"So it's just trying to get the balance right of the short-term goal in playing the best we can against England and also having 26 players ready to play against the Springboks and Australians."

A good week for Henry will turn positively celebratory if his side get the job done on Saturday night. Even the staunchest of Cantabs couldn't deny him that.