Mailbox: Henry's head
In defeat, someone always has to take the blame. In this case it’s All Blacks coach Graham Henry after his side crashed out of the Rugby World Cup with a shock 18-20 defeat to hosts France at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday.
In his time Henry had a near perfect record: a clean sweep over the British Lions, a perfect record on European soil, including a Grand Slam tour in 2005, as well as three successful Tri-Nations campaigns. Yet none of that will matter now as he failed to bring home the Webb Ellis trophy.
It is for this sole reason that the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) have announced that they will name a new head coach to replace Graham Henry by the end of the year.
However, the majority of you feel that the former high school teacher is getting a rough deal…
“I’d like to firstly say I don’t think Graham Henry should be leaving the position at all. He had one bad game (admittedly, it was a big game) and now they get rid of him. Well, that can’t be changed at this point and I really only see one possibility: Robbie Deans. He’s guided the Crusaders to more Super 12/14 championships than anyone else. Every team seems to want him.
“The main question, though, is if he’d be willing to give up coaching the Crusaders for a shot at the Internationals. He’s already turned down the Stormers and Wallabies, so I’m thinking he won’t go for this either. And, honestly, aside from Henry and Deans, I can’t think of anyone else who’d do well as coach. Maybe John Kirwan, but I’m not sure how well he’d do. But, again, I’m not sure if Kirwan is ready to leave his current job coaching Japan.
“I suppose we’ll see what happens.”
– Steve Reeves
“Over the last 3.5 years, there has only been one team that were better than the All Blacks and that was The Crusaders. Robbie Deans should be the guy to save NZ and take them into 2011 – he will get the job done!
“No doubt I feel sorry for Graham Henry – sports and statistics never mixed sensibly. France and England did nothing more than they have been doing for the last 25 years – beating NZ and Aus by 2-3 points every 5th or 6th game, scoring less tries in process, and getting the benefit of some dodgy officiating. As for the other 4 or 5 games in between, the scorelines could not get any bigger and apart from 1 day at this tournament, the same pattern has occurred.
“Graham Henry went wrong by disrespecting the Super 14. He and his merry men were paid All Blacks coaches and not even in NZ to be watching the Super 14 in 2004 and then the shenanigans in this year’s Super 14…The Super 14 is the only rugby competition that is positively moving rugby forward (IRB: Please remain to keep your noses out) and as a result, South Africa will now win this competition, that is of course, we have impartial officiating.”
– The Balls, Canada
“Who cares, we are going to enjoy the summer months and watch golf…
“It is impossible to move effluent upstream with a leaky shovel.”
– Deekay and family
“If New Zealand was a normal nation, Graham Henry would obviously remain at the helm as his results have been pretty outstanding all over the past 4 years, and he would surely learn the lesson from this defeat. But NZ is not quite a normal nation for what concerns rugby, people want to see heads rolling. So, if it has to be changed, I say Robbie Deans.”
– Francesco Ziosi
“Should be Henry. He has the most successful record as AB coach for along, long time. 3-0 over Lions, Grand Slam, only 1 loss in Europe, only 1 loss to and NH team. At the end of the day it was only a missed conversion in it, and some very poor refereeing. Had this loss happened last year in France, would the reaction be the same? No.
“Unfortunately, the nature of the beast in NZ is that if you lose you’re gone. We strive for perfection and won’t accept any less.
“In perspective though, the ABs are still ranked No 1 by a long way. It’s still 34-11 overall record v France. And it was only a 2 point loss on the other side of the world. England learned from a WC defeat and kept the coach on to win the next one. Henry knows what he’s done wrong here and should, if not still the coach, have some input into the next one. It seems a foregone conclusion that Deans is next in line, and maybe he will bring a fresh view and build on the foundations Graham has laid. We have depth and a great pool of players to chose from, but maybe we need a bit more focus on combinations.
“I just hope the ABs can remember that the flak they’re going to cop is just a nation striking out in grief. We will all be there with them next year, and for those that say they are soft and didn’t put enough effort in, have a look at McCaw’s eyes. That man has put his heart and soul on the line for his country and is totally devastated. In the past, captains have had to deal with this sort of defeat and we’ve recovered and moved on. I’m just fearful that these players left so much of themselves in Cardiff that they may never fully recover. We all feel like we’ve all had a death in the family and people deal with it in different ways, but the important thing is to help each other through it and not tear ourselves apart. And I had better not ever hear someone say to me “It’s only game”. People don’t spend that much money and travel that far to watch a ‘game’.”
– Andy Neilson
“Absolutely shocking knee jerk reaction decision to sack Graham Henry!!!
“Players have bad games and are afforded at least a second chance. The players don’t perform and this is what happens. If Henry goes then the next coach won’t have learnt the same valuable lessons that he has in his time in charge. His record stands up as one of the best in AB history – losing only to SA and Aus in the 4 years prior to the World Cup and only away from home (and winning in South Africa)!!
“Clive Woodward was afforded a long time in charge to get results (over 2 World Cups), Jake White was shown a lot of faith on a rocky road to the World Cup, Bernard Laporte has retained his job despite some amazing results and playing all sorts of players in all sorts of positions for many years (not always as successful as the 1/4 final).
“What message doe that send to his possible successor? Nothing like setting the bench mark high!”
– Ryan Lundy
“Robbie Deans will no doubt fill the vacancy.
“However, it should be noted that Graham, his coaches, and the boys have nothing to be embarrassed or ashamed of. They we’re the best side in that QF match and the score should have reflected it – were it not for the horrendous officiating, NZ would now be preparing for the match against England. For referee Wayne Barnes to escape formal review from the IRB, is shocking to say the least.”
– Mike Plivelich
“Well…looks like Messrs Henry and Hansen could be in contention for Wales, if they want to come back, they have been sorely missed and….Gareth Jenkins, formerly of Wales, could be available to coach the All Blacks!”
– Dave Dohrn (Kiwi in Wales)
