Graham Henry
Birth name | Graham William Henry | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Date of birth | 8 June 1946 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Christchurch, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
School | Christchurch Boys' High School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
University | University of Otago (DipPhEd) Massey University (BEd) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Spouse | Raewyn | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Children | Three | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Occupation(s) | Rugby union coach | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Cricket information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Batting | Right-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Role | Wicket-keeper | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Years | Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
1965/66 | Canterbury | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
1967/68 | Otago | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
FC debut | 27 December 1965 Canterbury v Auckland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Last FC | 9 January 1968 Otago v Canterbury | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: CricketArchive, 3 June 2022 |
Sir Graham William Henry
Henry played rugby union for
He coached successful
He was appointed head coach of New Zealand in 2004, and had several successful seasons, including a series victory over the British & Irish Lions in 2005. Henry was heavily criticised following the All Blacks' quarter-final exit at the
In 2012, Henry joined Argentina as an advisor, and acted as an assistant coach to the Argentina national team.[1] In 2013, he re-committed to Argentina for the 2013 Rugby Championship.[2]
Early career
After attending
His first major role was as coach of the successful
Wales and Lions
After being overlooked for the All Blacks coaching position in 1998, Henry left New Zealand to coach
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 and took the job in December of that year.[3] 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.[4]
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.[5]
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
After winning the
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 10 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 buildup to the decisive French try scored by Yannick Jauzion. This later led 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.[7]
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.[8] 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 become the captain 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 until 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.[9][10]
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.[11]
At the IRB Awards in 2011, Henry and his team both captured awards. The All Blacks were named
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.
Personal life
Henry met his wife Raewyn at university. She has also coached first class sports teams – the Auckland and Welsh netball teams. They reside in Waiheke Island, and have three children.
Henry was made a
In 2020, he was the coach for the Match Fit squad, an old-boys team of former All Blacks for a one-off game against Barbarians. On the show, he admitted that he should not have taken the role as the Lions coach while being the Welsh coach in 2001. After the tour, he developed depression. He had recovered after leaving the Welsh coaching job in 2002, but also helped him cope with the loss at the 2007 World Cup.[18] In 2021/22, he reprised the role in season 2. He, the late Va'aiga Tuigamala and Brad Mika were the only Auckland-based members in season 2.
References
- ^ "Argentina hire former All Blacks coach Graham Henry as Four Nations advisor". Telegraph.co.uk. 7 March 2012.
- ^ "Henry re-commits to Argentina". ESPN scrum.
- ^ Bull, Andy New Zealand’s Graham Henry: how I learned to win the Rugby World Cup The Guardian. 9 September 2015
- ^ Jones, Nicholas (20 October 2011). "Three wise men and the video guy". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 24 October 2011.
- ^ "392nd All Black Test: 1112th All Black Game". All Blacks. Retrieved 26 May 2007.
- ^ "IRB Awards 2005".
- ^ Wildman, Rob (7 December 2007). "Graham Henry reappointed All Blacks coach". Daily Telegraph. London.
- ^ "Henry reappointed All Blacks coach". New Zealand Herald. 7 December 2007. Retrieved 7 December 2007.
- ^ "All Black coaching trio re-appointed". The New Zealand Herald. 9 July 2009. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
- ^ Ackford, Paul (29 October 2011). "All Blacks coach Graham Henry: My team and I nearly choked before our moment of Rugby World Cup glory". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 30 October 2011. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
- ^ Robson, Toby (3 July 2009). "When a win's not a win – rugby – sport". Rugby Heaven. New Zealand: Fairfax. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
- ^ "All Blacks, Henry win team and coach of the year". IRB. Retrieved 25 October 2011.
- ^ "Henry steps down as All Blacks coach". Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax. 1 November 2011. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
- ^ "World Cup-winner Graham Henry steps down as All Blacks head coach". The Guardian. London. 1 November 2011. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
- ^ "Henry handed new mentor role". ESPN Scrum. 9 February 2012. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
- ^ "Henry links up with Argentina". ESPN Scrum. 7 March 2012. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
- ^ "New Year honours list 2012". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 31 December 2011. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
- ^ "Match Fit Season 1 Ep 2 | DOCUMENTARY/FACTUAL | ThreeNow". www.threenow.co.nz. Retrieved 1 November 2020.