Ted

The players certainly deserve the accolades for their victory on Sunday. But one person who seems to have escaped the limelight somewhat is the AB coach, Graham Henry or better known as Ted.

David Kirk wrote a piece saying how much Ted has changed over the years. When he told Ted he had to go see his girlfriend to sort out a personal matter, he was brusquely told ´well go, then. You´re not much bloody good to me anyway´or words to that effect. It´s true that Ted has mellowed over the years. You could argue his face looks like a twist of lemon in an a**ehole but Kirk made the point when you see photos of Ted with the players, you often see the proximity he has now with the players. He is often with an arm round them and you get the feeling that the players really respect them. When you look at the record the guy has (more than 85 per cent success rate in the professional era) it´s easy to see where that respect comes from. This guy has an intimidating record as a coach.

With the 2007 inglorious exit though, he came very close to not continuing in the coaching role. Robbie Deans didn´t make the cut and took his services to Australia. Many argued that the wrong call had been made. I have a lot of time for both coaches and certainly would never get involved in the ridiculous slanging matches a few Kiwis got involved in (I hope Australia now wins because Deans is the best coach or Deans has never done anything significant on the international stage). Deans has made a few mistakes but I don´t think anyone can question the general direction Australia are moving in and they are deserving 3N champs this year. The England RFU could do well to look at the example of making knee-jerk reactions. MJ has been accused of making no improvements from when he got the manager role. A 6N victory apparently doesn´t qualify as improvement. Sure I think he made mistakes with player management in this World Cup but that doesn´t mean he can´t learn from his mistakes.

So I hope in some way, the NZRFU keeps Henry in the mix with some advisory role. This is a guy who has served NZ rugby so well and he deserves to have tasted World Cup success. A phenomenal record and I hope you enjoy your retirement now Ted. You can look back on a wonderful coaching period with great pride. ka pai Ted

Cheers Kia for this...maybe he could help out with the Hurricanes? Heaven knows we need all the help we can get!

GH was always a well established coach though and between 04-07 his record was exemplary... sacking him because of a very unique and one off QF loss was always the wrong decision... and it proved right. He added a lot to NZ which turned them into a team that could win the world cup. He beefed up their pack... something during Mitchell's era was sub-standard and built his team around a steady set piece which often dominated... not just competed.

MJ on the other hand can't really say the same thing; sometimes a change is necessary and in ENG case I think it is.

MJ has never been a coach before and I doubt will ever be again once he leaves the ENG job, whether he does now or in the future.

Yes he can develop as a coach but to be honest ENG don't need someone who may turn into a good coach... they need a good coach full stop.

What has he really achieved during his tenure?

Like SA in 00-03 the quality of the players sometimes helped pull the odd rabbit out the hat.. but the odd good result doesn't mean the coach should be praised.

MJ is a rugby legend but he is no coach. His players don't respect him and during his tenure they have been rightly known for their indiscipline on & off the pitch.... most coaches wouldn't stand for it, if MJ doesn't then why does it continue?

If I recall NZ made GH re-apply for his job as NZ coach post 07... they made him argue his case, show them how he would take NZ forward etc... let MJ do the same then and see how he measures up to well established coaches such as Nick Mallett.

Geez chewed hes a miracle worker but hes not that good.
Canes need players not ideas.
He hinted at coaching on and i cant see him playing a smith hansen role.
hansens made murmurs so seems gh must have given him the all clear.

Grahm Henry is an awesome coach and possibly the best, or one of the best ever, but ( and i know this is going to upset him) But he's not very likeable and personable, unlike our own dear Martin Johnson.

Haha EW difficult to separate in the gruff stakes there. Henry did seem to have a personality that was akin to sandpaper as toilet paper but it was something he worked on later in his career.

What is undeniable is that he was an unbelievably good rugby coach with an impressive record in club and international rugby. We often talk of the best players ever to have played the game. He is up there with the best coaches to have ever coached the game.

From the interviews now compared to those when he was with Wales for, example or the 2001 Lions - he certainly appears to have relaxed a little. His record speaks for itself and no doubt he will be remembered as one of the best ever union coaches. With hindsight a great decision not to dump him 4 years ago - perhaps a lesson there in that there isn't always a quick fix and if you have a good coach, give them time to be effective.

I couldn't care less if you needed to make an appointment just to speak to him personally, in the end he'll rightly be remembered as the man to have coached NZ through arguably their most dominant period culminating in a long overdue RWC win. His international record as a coach speaks for itself. Who knows, maybe making the effort to improve unnecessarily on his social skills might have detracted from his coaching quality.

Wonder how long before he's linked with the England job

TED ,ironicaly is not a noted ex-player,a Head Coach s job is to command respect,not be a social secretary.
A CV of Wales Head Coach laying the groundwork for his predecessors to claim 2005 and 2008 Grand Slams.A Lions Coach,Auckland,the Blues winning runs.
Then taking over from John Mitchell /Robbie Deans post 2003 RWC ,3 -3Ns titles in 4 years,then RWC 2007.Usually Finis for a AB Coach but was re-Appointed after Deans credentials were ignored.A further 2-3Ns titles,3 Grand Slams of europe,a glitch losing 3Ns in 2009 when key players were injured.A 6-0 3 Ns title in 2010.
Prioritised the 2011 3Ns in hopes of winning 2011 RWC which he did.
Funny 88-wins out of 104 matches over 7 years,a win ratio of 85% BUT if he had`nt won this RWC .
Too Many he would have just been an also ran,IF he retires Hansen wants the job.
I wonder if John Kirwan would be offered backs coach job,with eventual promotion to the Full job himself.
If he has given up the ABs reigns NZRFU want s to bag him as some sort of supremo .His skills are to good to waste abroad ,IF he was Englands Coach and had won a RWC he would be SIR TED in the New Years Honours list.