Tri-Nations a better test of All Blacks, says Henry

Henry, whose side beat the Lions 3-0 in the three-Test series, assembled his squad in Auckland yesterday to prepare for their first Tri-Nations Test against South Africa in Cape Town on 6 August. The Springboks will open the series against Australia in Pretoria on Saturday. Henry said: "My gut feeling was they [the Lions] weren't particularly strong but ... we are going to know where we are after the Tri-Nations as a measuring stick."

South Africa beat the Wallabies 33-20 at Ellis Park last weekend but Jake White, the Springbok coach, has tweaked his side for the Tri-Nations opener at Loftus Versfeld. The scrum-half Fourie du Preez replaces Ricky Januarie, while the tight-head prop C J van der Linde comes in for Eddie Andrews, who is attending the birth of his second child. The flanker Solly Tyibilika drops out, with Joe van Niekerk moving from No 8 to blind side and Jacques Cronjewearing the No 8 jersey.

South Africa (v Australia, Saturday, Pretoria): P Montgomery; B Paulse, J Fourie, J de Villiers, B Habana; A Pretorius, F du Preez; J Cronje, J Smith, J van Niekerk, V Matfield, B Botha, C J van der Linde, J Smit (capt), G Steenkamp. Replacements: G Botha, L Sephaka, A van den Berg, S Burger, R Januarie, W Julies, J van der Westhuysen.