New Zealand rugby reacted with traditional severity to its World Cup failure when it sacked coach John Mitchell and replaced him with Graham Henry yesterday.
Henry, 57, first applied for the All Blacks job in 1995 but was forced overseas in 1998, having difficult stints with Wales and the British and Irish Lions. He was given a two-year deal yesterday, realizing a longtime ambition.
"My experience I think was a key factor," Henry said Friday. "I have been dreaming about getting this job for 30 years, so I've been trying to plan and get myself right for it."
Henry, a success with the Blues in the early days of Super 12, says he is a better coach now than he was before he left New Zealand.
"I think you change your style, the Welsh experience was huge," Henry said. "I was very much a cup-winning coach. Now I think I am more of a people coach. To keep your job you have to think about results as well so you have to get the balance right."
Mitchell, 38, had an excellent record in two years in charge but was left with no doubt that he was blamed for New Zealand's 22-10 loss to Australia in their World Cup semifinal last month.
He followed Alex Wyllie, Laurie Mains and John Hart, whose All Black coaching careers ended after World Cup failure.
"Clearly I'm disappointed and I congratulate Graham on becoming All Black coach," Mitchell said.
"At the end of the day I've paid the ultimate price for the loss in the World Cup semifinal."
Mitchell said he wanted to coach a New Zealand domestic team but ruled out a future attempt to coach the All Blacks.
"I believe you only coach the All Blacks once in a lifetime and the way I feel at the moment I don't expect to do it again," Mitchell said.
Henry was the first non-Briton to coach the Lions but his short tenure was clouded in controversy. The Lions lost the 2001 series 2-1 against Australia and Henry was widely criticized by his players for his training methods and approach.
US national team star Folarin Balogun was among the scorers as AS Monaco on Friday won 3-1 at Paris Saint-Germain, dealing a blow to the side from the French capital before they face Chelsea in a crunch UEFA Champions League round-of-16 tie. Maghnes Akliouche gave Monaco a first-half lead at the Parc des Princes, and Aleksandr Golovin doubled their advantage early in the second half of the French Ligue 1 clash. Bradley Barcola pulled one back for the reigning European champions, but Balogun struck shortly after with a fifth goal in his last five games as Monaco claimed a precious
Teenage star Lamine Yamal’s superbly-taken goal on Saturday earned Barcelona a 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao in Spanish La Liga. The champions restored their four-point lead over second-placed Real Madrid, who had on Friday temporarily closed the gap by beating Celta Vigo. Atletico Madrid tightened their grip on third with an entertaining 3-2 win over Real Sociedad. Yamal, 18, curled into the top corner after 68 minutes to split the sides at Athletic’s San Mames stadium. “We’re already seeing what Lamine can do — he puts it right in the top corner, and there’s nothing the keeper can do,” Barca
Liverpool on Tuesday suffered an embarrassing 2-1 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers as Andre’s stoppage-time strike sealed a dramatic victory for the English Premier League’s bottom club. Arne Slot’s side fell behind to Rodrigo Gomes’ strike in the closing stages at Molineux. Mohamed Salah hauled Liverpool level with his first goal in 11 top-flight games dating back to November last year. However, Andre’s first goal for Wolves inflicted the latest humbling loss in a chastening season for Liverpool. It was the first time the Premier League’s bottom club had beaten the reigning champions since Crystal Palace defeated Chelsea in 2017. Liverpool
CHANCE TO QUALIFY: Both teams now have three points from two games, and Taiwan sit ahead of Vietnam and behind Japan, who last night beat India 11-0 Taiwan yesterday defeated Vietnam 1-0 to move into second place in Group C at the AFC Women’s Asian Cup with one match remaining. Su Yu-hsuan scored the decisive goal in the 26th minute after Taiwan midfielder Saki Matsunaga’s shot hit the crossbar, leaving Su to nod the rebound into an empty net for the team which won the last of their three Asian Cup titles in 1981. It was a deserved victory for Taiwan, 2-0 losers to Japan on Wednesday, who created several chances to extend their lead. Vietnam, the 2022 quarter-finalist, beat India in their opener, but struggled to
RSS