IT'S a surprise that Steve Hansen took time out of his schedule to head to Europe to watch some Six Nations games last month given that the Cricket World Cup taking place on New Zealand soil seems right up his alley.

There's no shortage of entertainment with the television coverage taking great pleasure in showing the sixes tally in the bottom corner of the screen ticking over with alarming regularity.

While England's players nudged and nurdled, the rest have been heaving the ball over the ropes with humungous pieces of wood in Australia and New Zealand.

It may seem like sour grapes from a country that has already been knocked out, but it's not a tournament that has captured my imagination with scores above 300 usually being deemed 'under par' and commentators talking with glee about how teams can now rack up 150 in the last 10 overs.

It's always been a game for batsmen but the balance seems to have shifted even further in order appeal to simpletons who force you to politely smile and bite your tongue when they ponder how in Tests they 'can play for five days and it's still a draw'.

Hansen must be a Twenty20 man judging by his comments last week about the way that rugby is going following his European recce to watch France versus Wales and Ireland against England.

"I've actually got big concerns about the game at the moment, because there are not enough tries being scored, which is turning the fans away," he said when lambasting the frequency with which the ball is booted rather than put through the hands.

"We are about to go into a showpiece for the sport at the World Cup," he continued. "There are going to be millions and millions of people watching it and then all you are going to see is people kick goals."

There is an element of truth to what Hansen said with 'it's a game of chess' often being code for a turgid encounter.

But it's also like the boss of a Premier League big gun moaning that a relegation-threatened team managed by Tony Pulis didn't attempt to take them on with 'pure' football.

Hansen knows that the All Blacks are the best ball-playing side on the planet and, after enjoying a touch of fortune to win the trophy on their own turf last time round against France, doesn't want to get into an arm-wrestle with Ireland or England.

It's the age-old south against north, Super Rugby versus European Cup debate. Finding the blend between a kicking and running game has always been the challenge for coaches.

A bit of tinkering needs to be done to encourage teams to attack but low scoring doesn't necessarily mean low quality.

Cast your mind back to the first half of the autumn series in Cardiff when Wales hosted Australia – there were six tries in a helter-skelter half of frankly shoddy rugby.

Conversely the most enjoyable 40 minutes was probably when the hosts and New Zealand went back to the changing rooms level-pegging at 3-3.

Expect Saturday's Millennium Stadium to be more like the All Blacks encounter than the Wallabies one, thank goodness.

Strategy and tactics will be key with players having to think on their feet, always a worry against a side featuring Paul O'Connell.

That was one of Wales' shortcomings against England – what they were trying to do wasn't working and they were unable to stop their visitors when they hit their stride.

The modern game frequently leads to those bemoaning the lack of players with a rugby brain, wishing that there were more 'heads-up' players rather than those that charge head down into contact.

Yet even in the risk-averse game where the team that kicks more often comes out on top a sharp mind is needed.

While striving to enable those with talent to entertain with the dazzling stuff we mustn't devalue those that are shrewd tacticians or lose one of rugby's real strengths – its variety.