Graham Henry has stepped down as coach of the Rugby World Cup-winning All Blacks, ending an eight-year career in which he won 85 percent of his 103 Test matches.
The 65-year-old Henry made the anticipated announcement at a news conference in Auckland on Tuesday, saying he was “exceptionally proud” of how the team had added to the All Blacks’ legacy.
The New Zealand Rugby Union said it was negotiating proposals to have Henry remain in New Zealand as a mentor to leading coaches.
Henry is expected to be succeeded by his current assistant, Steve Hansen, although the New Zealand union has invited applications for the position.
CAP TO CAREER
New Zealand’s Rugby World Cup victory, completed on Oct. 23 when it beat France 8-7 in the final on Auckland’s Eden Park, caps Henry’s career as one of the most successful rugby coaches of all time.
As well as winning the World Cup, he guided the All Blacks to victory in 88 of 103 Tests, won the Tri-Nations tournament five times and achieved three Grand Slams against the northern hemisphere Home Unions.
The All Blacks have also held the Bledisloe Cup, the annual contest against archrival Australia, since Henry, Hansen and Wayne Smith took charge in 2003. Smith announced before the World Cup that he was stepping down from All Blacks duties, but Hansen has indicated his interest in the head coaching position.
LUCKY
Henry was considered lucky to be reappointed after the 2007 World Cup, when the All Blacks were beaten by France in the quarter-finals. Henry, Hansen and Smith retained their jobs under pressure from current Wallabies coach Robbie Deans and went on to become the first coaches in 24 years to guide New Zealand to a World Cup victory.
“It’s been an enormous privilege to coach the All Blacks and I am exceptionally proud of how the team has added to the All Blacks legacy over the last eight years, involving 103 test matches,” Henry said. “I am also exceptionally proud of how they have developed an extremely professional and enjoyable culture and environment, and how they have reached out to people of all ages and put a smile on their faces.”
“So I want to say a special thank you and congratulations to all the players who have played during this time, especially to Tana Umaga and Richie McCaw, the two long-term captains,” Henry said.
STRONG POSITION
NZRU chief executive Steve Tew said the All Blacks are in a strong position to build on the successes achieved under Henry.
“He leaves the All Blacks job as one of the greatest coaches in the game, his record is unsurpassed and while he will now get time to spend with family and friends, and the odd bit of fishing, we are delighted that Graham is still going to be involved in New Zealand rugby,” Tew said. “He has a great relationship with the country’s professional coaches, as well as other coaches, and he still has so much to offer the game and it’s fantastic that up-and-coming New Zealand coaches will continue to benefit from his vast knowledge.”
STELLAR RECORD
Henry and Hansen will coach together once more when they lead the Barbarians against Australia at Twickenham, London on Nov. 26.
Henry coached teams at the Rugby World Cup for a record 16 games — including Wales in the 1999 tournament — and his 13 wins are more than any other coach has achieved. He won the International Rugby Board’s Coach of the Year award a record five times, in 2005, 2006, 2008, last year and this year.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later