He told reporters after the match he believes Wales are blessed with natural ability and said “I think Wales are in with a decent shout of beating the Australians next weekend, I was very impressed with them today.”
The former coach of Wales returned to the scene of former personal glories, and watched his side labour to beat a robust Welsh side that for 40 minutes, were the toast of Cardiff.
“It was a hell of a good Test match that was mightily competitive,” he said. “They were a very good Welsh side who played a lot of good rugby and troubled us a lot.”
But, as is so often the case with Kiwi sides, the second half was a wholly different affair to the first, and the 23 unanswered points hailed the second-half performance of the All Blacks as their best 40-minute display of the season.
“I thought we were superb in the second half, which was probably the best 40 minutes of rugby we had produced all year.
“We scored 23 points to none in the second half and that is huge. I am delighted for the guy. They showed a lot of composure.
“It takes time to win a Test match and I think it shows a lot of character from the side. To hang in there under pressure and come through is a mark of the character of this side.”
But Henry had words of consolation for Gatland’s charges, “They will be disappointed with the result but they should be proud of their advances.”
Wales have not won a Test match against 20 attempts against All Blacks since their last victory in 1953.
