Whenever I reply “Kelston Boys High” when asked what secondary school I attended, the next question invariably is “Were you there when Graham Henry was?”
I wasn’t. In fact I’m of the age when I had been gone a year or two before he arrived in the early 1980s. But I got to know him a decade later as sports reporter of the local Western Leader in West Auckland.
For a guy who was very hands on as principal of Kelston Boys as well as coaching the Auckland provincial rugby team he always seemed to find time to talk to me. I recall it was the only time I ever enjoyed being in the principal’s office. It must have been the combination of the mountain of sporting trivia in my head with a mountain of sports data in his which could actually be useful outside of a sports quiz.
That relationship grew through a mutual friend who worked with him at Auckland rugby. My friend, Grant, a video analyst would tell me of the incredible hours Graham would spend at night analysing the data and video provided, as well as the remarkable retention of that data. Graham admitted during the Rugby World Cup he slept between four to six hours a night.
In 1998, when I decided to head into the big wide world as a freelancer instead of relying on a weekly wage, I asked him to write a reference. He did so, under Auckland Blues letterhead, and I’ve no doubt it proved beneficial when I included it as part of my CV when I went out pitching for contract work.
Graham left Auckland rugby that year to coach Wales, starting a revival of that rugby-proud nation which included the Dragons’ only ever victory against the world champions South Africa. In 2001 he coached the British Lions against the then world champions, losing a close series that went down to the wire.
He returned in mid-2002. I was expecting him to ask me for a reference to help find work, but had no trouble doing so. In his role as technical advisor he steered Auckland to the NPC title and in 2003 was hugely influential in the Blues winning the Super 12 title.
So it was no surprise when he gained the All Blacks job after the disappointment of another failed World Cup campaign in 2003. By 2005, led by Tana Umaga, the All Blacks were clearly the world’s No 1 side and remained so until the 2007 tournament, although the signs were there it wasn’t all going to plan.
Of course, it didn’t but no one expected them to lose in the quarterfinals against an out-of-sorts French team (sound familiar?).
Thankfully the NZRU resisted pressure from Canterbury who wanted their favourite son Robbie Deans, and Henry and assistants Steve Hansen and Wayne Smith were retained for the next four years until 2011.
Apart from 2009 when they lost all three tests to world champions South Africa and one at home to France, the All Blacks have consistently retained their No 1 spot.
In my editorial in the September/October 2011 Issue 46 prior to the Rugby World Cup, I mentioned how professionalism should have led to the end of All Blacks remarkable winning record in test simply because the bigger and wealthier nations would have more resources to put into the game.
Yet the opposite happened, with Henry establishing a remarkable 85.4% winning percentage, more than 10% above the All Blacks historical rate and 22% above the next best side, South Africa. He extended the All Blacks retention of the Bledisloe Cup for almost a decade (remember how the five years Australia had it seemed like eternity?) and never lost to a British nation. It’s a remarkable record that will never be surpassed and what was particularly satisfying was the way he truly unearthed the Polynesian talent that rednecks said was either too undisciplined, too lazy and even not intelligent enough to succeed. How I enjoyed seeing Henry’s men regularly shove it down their throats.
But in many eyes all those test wins and trophies would have counted for nothing if the All Blacks had failed for a second time in the Rugby World Cup campaign under his reign.
I was desperate for the All Blacks to do it, although I had steeled myself for the worst, particularly in that nerve-wracking final against the French (didn’t I mention in my last column how increasingly wary I was of them?).
I wanted it for my piece of mind. I wanted it for the country’s sanity. But most of all, I wanted it for Graham Henry.
Thanks Graham.
And if you ever need a reference, don’t hesitate to give me a call.
King Henry’s Reign
• Graham Henry finishes his All Blacks career as one of the most successful coaches of all time. He coached the All Blacks to 88 wins in 103 tests for a winning percentage of 85.4 percent, including 29 of the last 32 tests and 48 of their 51 tests at home.
• The All Blacks have held the Bledisloe Cup, played for against Australia, every year of Henry's coaching reign; won the Tri-Nations five times; won three Grand Slams; and hold all the trophies against other major rugby nations: The Freedom Cup (South Africa), the Dave Gallaher Cup (France) and the Hillary Shield (England).
• He coached a team at the Rugby World Cup for a record 16 times (including Wales in 1999) and his 13 RWC wins are unchallenged.
• He has won the International Rugby Board's Coach of the Year award a record five times (2005, 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2011); been the New Zealand Coach of the Year four times (1995, 2005, 2006 and 2008); and in 2008 also received the Pierre de Coubertin Trophy awarded by the International Committee for Fair Play (ICPF).
• Born on 8 June in 1946 in Christchurch, Henry attended Christchurch Boys' High School and the University of Otago before embarking on a long career as a teacher - and rugby coach. He taught and coached the First XV at two Auckland schools, Auckland Grammar and Kelston Boys' High School, becoming headmaster at Kelston in 1987 until his professional rugby coaching career began in 1996.
• He coached the Auckland provincial side to championship titles four years in a row from 1993 to 1996 and the Blues Super Rugby side to glory in 1996 and 1997. He coached Wales from 1998 to 2002, and in 2001 became the first southern hemisphere coach to coach the British and Irish Lions.
Where does Graham Henry rank among the world’s best coaches across all sports? Who should replace him?
