Henry pleased to grind out victory

New Zealand head coach Graham Henry expressed satisfaction on reaching the Rugby World Cup semi-finals following an unconvincing 33-10 quarter-final win over Argentina in Auckland.

Tries from Kieran Read and Brad Thorn, seven Piri Weepu penalties and an Aaron Cruden conversion earned the All Blacks the win which set up a last-four clash with rivals Australia.

Asked if he was happy with the performance, Henry said: "Very happy. I've never been to a semi-final before. It's amazing, great."

He continued: "I was pleased with the game. I thought it was a tough old game of football and I thought both sides played particularly well.

"I was pleased with the composure of our fellas. They were under a lot of pressure at times and kept their heads.

"Quarter-finals are always tough games. I'm sure we'll be better for that particular game."

Argentina head coach Santiago Phelan said: "Even though it hurts that we lost the team performed very well for large periods of the game.

"We can't forget we were playing against the best team in the world.

"Our plan was to play the best possible rugby we could and to give 100% - that we did.

"I'm very proud of this team, they gave their all."