Graham Henry: Class shows in the end
rugby365.com recently ran an article on All Blacks coach Graham Henry’s impressive coaching record. Rowan Belchers – of Head Start Sport – tells us why he thinks Henry is the best in the business.
(CLICK HERE FOR THAT PREVIOUS ARTICLE!)
Have you seen Graham Henry interviewed before?
Concise, authentic, efficient, insightful, deliberate (yes, a bit edgy and sullen too – but he’s not there to make friends…)
The question that came up for me was around far-reaching his influence was across the landscape of NZ rugby, and how many players and coaches have benefited from being around him over the years.
Hundreds, if not thousands over time.
Let’s get some facts:
– Total games played 95, won 81
– Home games played 44, won 41
Case closed – he’s the best coach in world rugby by a country mile.
I’m tempted to go down the old, tired road of “…compared to our coaches…” but I’m trying my best to resist. But just quickly then, who’ve we had of similarly high quality in an all-round kind of way?
– Nick Mallett? Good coach, unsustainable relationship management practices.
– Carel du Plessis? Insufficient Test experience, promoted too quickly.
– Jake White? Good coach, good record, unable to translate success in the long term.
– Div? Poor record, poor reputation management.
That’s not to say these guys don’t have many valuable character traits and technical skills – they definitely do and they’ve all, on occasion, found success.
The comparison that I’m making, however, is to compare them to the excellence and class that Graham Henry has infused into the NZ rugby system. Yes, they might not win the World Cup (although, I’ll be shocked if they don’t…), but during his tenure the All Black environment has operated at a level as close to perfection as we’re ever going to see at Test rugby level.
So, how did he do it and how can we replicate it?
Firstly, he’s a career coach and has been working on his ‘craft’ for a long, long time. Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000 hours needed to achieve expert level competence comes to mind.
Secondly, he’s a classic example who ‘whole person mastery’. He’s solid on all fronts and has no obvious weaknesses, a view that was validated when the NZRU retained his services despite no winning the 2007 World Cup. There simply is no better person in the world to coach the All Blacks.
So, what to do here in SA around making sure that we have coaches that meet the bar set by Graham Henry? Development, development, development. And particularly working with the parts of our coaches that they would prefer NOT to talk about or acknowledge – the weak points that we call the “shadow”. It’s not a character trait that we’re known for, but that where we need to focus to learn and unlock the extra performance that will unlock Graham Henry type of winning percentages.
Cheers,
Rowan
* Rowan Belchers and Tom Dawson-Squibb run a company called Head Start Sport which focuses on the mental side of sport. They have worked with the Stormers, WP and UCT – as well as Rondebosch Boys’ High School and Paarl Boys’ High School.
Visit www.headstartsport.co.za to find out more, or follow them on Twitter; @thesportingmind
