Graham Henry believes that new laws and a faster paced game mean that players would be better served by having two referees in control.

Irishman Alan Lewis was the match official in charge of New Zealand’s clash against Wales on the weekend, and his performance once again prompted talk of referees’ conditioning.

In July, the 46-year old also took charge of an All Blacks encounter in their Tri-Nations hit-out against South Africa in Auckland. In the aftermath of that Test encounter, New Zealand assistant coach Wayne Smith commented that the new laws meant match officials had to be at peak fitness to cope with a far quicker game.

While Smith recommended a system similar to Rugby League where two referees are used simultaneously, Henry prefers the idea of having the subbing option available to officials – a move which would negate any poor decisions coming about due to fatigue.

“I think it would be a good idea to have two referees so you sub the first one when he’s buggered and get the second one on,” Henry told NZPA.

“I’m not being silly. I honestly believe that would be an asset for the game because they do get into oxygen debt and then struggle to make good decisions.

“Anything to help the game would be good and I think that would be a positive.”

While the All Black coach had no qualms about Lewis’ calls at the breakdown in the match against Wales, he was less than happy with how the scrum was handled.

“I think there’s been an improvement there (breakdown interpretation),” said Henry.

“Generally speaking there is more consistency of refereeing because of the new interpretation of the laws at the tackle.

“There’s still a problem at scrum-time,” he added, bemoaning Daniel Braid’s sending off.

“We’ve just got to keep communicating.

“They want to do good job, we want to play well. Let’s try and keep on the same page.”