Graham Henry - All Blacks

All Blacks

Following the All Blacks' semi-final loss to Australia in the 2003 Rugby World Cup the All Blacks coaching job was advertised. Apart from incumbent coach John Mitchell, Henry was the only applicant. Henry appointed his former Wales assistant Steve Hansen as forwards coach, Wayne Smith as attack coach, and having himself responsible for defence. Henry also recruited Sir Brian Lochore as a selector. The coaching team was often referred to by rugby commentators as the Three Wise Men due to their collective experience and success.

His first Test match as coach was against the Rugby World Cup 2003 winners England team in New Zealand in 2004. England, coached by Sir Clive Woodward were decisively defeated in both Tests. The success did not carry on into the 2004 Tri-Nations where the All Blacks won two, and lost two Tests – they eventually finished last in the tournament. Henry and his assistants were criticised in the New Zealand media for their insistence on using a flat backline approach in attack – which they blamed for a low number of tries. The 2004 end of year Tests where they played Northern Hemisphere opponents was more successful and culminated in a 45–6 defeat of France in Paris.

In 2005 he coached the All Blacks in their 3–0 series defeat of the British and Irish Lions. He then coached the All Blacks to 2005 Tri-Nations victory where they lost their only match of 2005 – against South Africa. He then coached them to only their second ever Grand Slam over the four Home Nations later that year. The All Blacks were named 2005 IRB International Team of the Year by the sport's governing body, the International Rugby Board (IRB). The IRB named Henry as Coach of the Year and first five-eighth Dan Carter as Player of the Year.

After winning the 2006 Tri-Nations and winning all end-of-year Tests in the tour of England, France and Wales, Henry won the IRB Coach of the Year again in 2006. The All Blacks were also named IRB International Team of the Year and captain Richie McCaw Player of the Year.

Despite such successes, Henry attracted controversy for his rotation policy. This policy means that players in the squad are rotated into and out of the starting team resulting in consecutive matches in the All Blacks 2005 Grand Slam fielding entirely different starting fifteens. An extreme competitiveness developed for all positions.

Henry's All Black coaching career was in question after New Zealand lost to France 20–18 in their 2007 World Cup quarter-final. This was New Zealand's worst-ever performance in a Rugby World Cup; they had made the last four of every previous tournament. In particular, Henry was blamed for instructing his men to press for a try in the final ten minutes of the game instead of attempting a drop goal, with the All Blacks losing by only two points; the All Blacks' best option for a drop goal, centre Aaron Mauger, never got onto the pitch. Others criticised Henry for omitting experienced winger Doug Howlett, the All Blacks' leading scorer of tries in this tournament, starting lock Keith Robinson (who was both injured and had had minimum game time throughout the World Cup) as well as the injured flyhalf Daniel Carter (after earlier proclaiming that his team had enough depth not to force any injured players onto the field), and playing Mils Muliaina, widely considered one of the best fullbacks in rugby, out of position at outside centre.

Henry never stated that referee Wayne Barnes was culpable for the defeat, as Barnes not only allowed several French ruck infringements to go unpunished, but also sin-binned Luke McAlister and missed a forward pass in the build up to the decisive French try scored by Yannick Jauzion. This later lead to him receiving a fair sportsmans award, the second New Zealander after Tana Umaga. After some speculation that he would leave, Henry applied for the post after it became vacant, competing with Robbie Deans.

On 7 December 2007, Henry's contract as All Blacks coach was extended for a further two years, beating Crusaders's coach Robbie Deans, who subsequently accepted the head coaching position of the Australian rugby union team, the Wallabies. The reappointment produced a mixed reception with the public, media and past players; some applauded the decision while others considered it a mistake. The move to reappoint Henry was also significant as it was the first time that an All Black coach was reappointed after defeat in the World Cup. This has been very divisive in New Zealand with many commentators declaring that it was a case of politics at work.

Upon his reappointment Henry stated that Richie McCaw would retain the captaincy of the All Blacks, and declared that he would be looking for new tight forwards for the All Blacks.

In July 2009, Henry was reappointed as the coach of the All Blacks through till the end of 2011. This contract saw him coaching the All Blacks through the 2011 Rugby World Cup which was held in New Zealand and won by the All Blacks beating France 8-7 in the final.

During a series against France 2009 for contest of the Dave Gallagher Trophy he did not tell the All Blacks that they needed to win by a specified margin to secure the trophy. He said this was done because the All Blacks were "relatively young" and didn't need the extra pressure. This was not accepted as sound reasoning by all players.

At the IRB Awards in 2011, Henry and his team both captured awards. The All Blacks were named IRB International Team of the Year and Graham Henry IRB International Coach of the Year for the 5th time.

On 1 November 2011, Henry announced he would step down as coach, finishing his All Blacks career as one of the most successful rugby coaches of all time: he coached the All Blacks to 88 wins in 103 tests for a winning percentage of 85.4 percent. In February 2012, he took a two-year part-time position with the NZRU as a mentor for the country's Super Rugby and ITM Cup coaches. In April 2012, Henry began serving for one year in a similar role with the Argentine Rugby Union (UAR), primarily as a mentor to that country's high-level coaches and also as an assistant with the national team. His NZRU contract prohibits him from being part of the Pumas' coaching staff for their matches against New Zealand during the 2012 Rugby Championship, but the NZRU has given him its blessing to work with the UAR at other times.