Sports After Dark

When Graham Henry was appointed as All Blacks coach in 2003, he was given one simple goal: win the 2007 World Cup. Henry not only failed to do that, he was given everything he wanted to achieve that goal and for that reason he has to go.

After New Zealand’s failed 2003 Rugby World Cup campaign, coach John Mitchell was asked to reapply for his job. The only other applicant was Henry, who ultimately got the job and had former coach Wayne Smith appointed as attack coach and former Wales coach Steve Hansen appointed as forwards coach. Many considered this to be a dream trio, who would bring New Zealand rugby back to the Promised Land.

Henry almost immediately stamped his own mark on the team, bringing in a rotation policy and looking to build depth within the squad. According to All Blacks management, after playing two games in a row, players’ stats begin to drop off, so the need to rest players became instilled in the psyche of the team.

The need to build depth came out of the 2003 World Cup campaign. In the All Blacks’ opening game against Italy they lost captain Tana Umaga to a knee injury and the team lost a great deal of direction for the rest of the tournament, culminating in their meek exit at the hands of Australia.

However the rotation policy became something of a double edged sword as first fans and then players were not sure who was considered the best player in each position. Perhaps this was intended to keep players hungry if they thought they were playing for their place every week, but instead it led to disillusionment as players were dropped for reasons they did not understand, a notable example being Aaron Mauger.

One of the more controversial moves made by Henry was to exclude front line All Blacks from some of the inaugural Air New Zealand Cup in 2006, leaving them to rest up after their Tri Nations campaign. This cost the
competition dearly as fans stayed away in their droves, and with this year’s Air New Zealand Cup clashing with the World Cup, New Zealand’s premier domestic rugby competition has been demoted to an afterthought.

Henry’s most controversial move was the reconditioning program at the beginning of this year’s Super 14 when 22 front line All Blacks were sent into a camp to work on their strength and conditioning rather than take part in the first seven rounds of Super 14.  The plan was for the players to come back refreshed, stronger, faster and smarter but the reality was they came back rusty and several immediately got injured.

The combination of injuries, reconditioning and rotation meant that key players, such as playmaker Dan Carter, played very little rugby over the 2007 season, and the lack of game time showed in the quarterfinal against France.

But in spite of the misfortune and poor planning, the reason Henry should go is simple: He was given everything he wanted to build this team, from the rotation to the reconditioning and failed to deliver. The damage that was done to this year’s Super 14 and to the Air New Zealand Cup is just the icing on the bitter cake which All Blacks fans have had to swallow.

Current rumours say that Henry, Smith and Hansen will be reappointed until the end of 2008 at which point the NZRU will re-evaluate their positions. This is a hopeless soft option, because over the next year the All Blacks will likely once again return to dominant form and win almost everything, leaving fans, coaches and administrators believing that their flawed plan is working, when experience has shown it does not and cannot work.

Even before the semi final loss to Australia in 2003, the knives were already coming out for Mitchell who had set up a very un-media friendly camp and after the game the calls for blood were almost immediate. By contrast Henry was very friendly to the media, gave good answers in press conferences and made players available to the media. As a result of this he was given a great deal of slack by both fans and the media over some of his more controversial decisions.

Henry’s job was to win the World Cup, he failed at that and should be held accountable. Did he give it his best shot? Absolutely. Is it unfair to sack him after he gave his best? Yes, but life, particularly in professional sports, is rarely fair. It is time for the All Blacks to start over, with a new coach, new players and a new approach.

Comparing the All Blacks’ preparation to the champion Springboks and there is one obvious difference: The South African players actually spent time on the field. Most of the Springboks squad played all of Super 14, including the playoffs and the first round of the Tri-Nations. Coach Jake White then rested some of his top players before unleashing his squad with two warm up tests before the World Cup.

The result of that? Front line Springboks played around 20 games this season and won the World Cup, while front line All Blacks played around 10 games and crashed out of the World Cup in the quarter finals. And that really says it all.

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The Why Graham Henry must go by Hamish McBrearty, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.