All Blacks coach Graham Henry was left fuming after Dan Carter was allegedly the recipient of repeated late tackles in the first Tri-Nations Test in Wellington.

Henry has called on the match officials for the second Test in Dunedin "to do better", after "three or four late tackles" on star flyhalf Dan Carter.

Quoted in the Sunday Star Times, Henry said of the treatment Carter received in the Test won 19-8 by the All Blacks: "It is a concern. He got late-tackled three or four times, a lot of tackles off the ball."

The Sunday newspaper goes on to write that the most obvious of those late tackles came from Carter's opposite, Butch James, "whose match would have been forgettable if not for his persistent late tackles on Carter and a high — and off-the-ball — tackle on centre Conrad Smith."

Henry said it was not good enough for Carter's treatment to go largely unpenalised, according to the Sunday Star.

"It is frustrating and we've been saying this for a long time now, so I just hope that they (the referees) get tougher."

The Sunday Star says that Carter was "not surprised by the rugged approach of James.

"It's happened in the past as well, it's just something to expect," Carter said.

"I'm not too sure about the reason behind it, maybe to put me off my game or whatever, but as long as you bounce back... I thought I did that."

The newspaper does admit that the near spear tackle on John Smit was the worst offence in a hard, physical game.

The same two Australian assistant referees, James Leckie and Paul Marks, will be running touch and Aussie Matt Goddard will succeed his countryman Stuart Dickinson as referee.

365