KEY POINTS:
Graham Henry's first wish came true last weekend. New Zealand retained their Tri-Nations crown. His second is a little simpler.
He's off on holiday soon for a much-needed break, hoping for a little fishing, some wine tasting and complete anonymity.
Henry was in reflective mood this week,
probably his greatest triumph as All Blacks coach stored away in the locker marked "achievements". To have held on to the Tri-Nations title for a fourth successive year while building a new team was meritorious.
But how good could this side become? "It's too early to say, I don't think we'll know that until this time next year. It will be interesting to see how some of the young guys develop on the Northern Hemisphere tour. But there are many good young players coming through in New Zealand rugby and that definitely reinvigorates me. To have a [tournament] win and feel we have done something, is stimulating in itself. It is a burden we have been carrying around for a while."
Henry has been lugging the emotional baggage of a whole nation behind him ever since the World Cup failure. Does this achievement silence his critics?
His answer proves conclusively his excellent sense of humour remains in immaculate health. "I wouldn't think so, no. The knives are a little bit blunter for a while, that's all. But that's good, they have been pretty sharp and I've felt under a lot more pressure than ever before.
"The pressure is there all the time but there was more this time because of the World Cup result. When we won the final game in Brisbane, it was the first time I felt real peace for nine months. It was the only thing to put the Cardiff thing to rest, although it will never be totally put to rest. But maybe it's in the background now. Had we lost in Brisbane, it would have increased the pressure. I knew that the new team couldn't afford to falter. Even so, we had a couple of hiccups."
So he'll be even more relaxed now out in that fishing boat? Well, sort of.
"It's a pleasant relief until the next game. The game and the need for success is always in the back of your mind. The expectations for the All Blacks in this country are unrealistic. They have to win and win well in every game. But that does keep you on your toes because the people of this country are desperate for you to win. Whether you are rebuilding a team or not doesn't come into it.
"Yes, it is very tough for the guy at the top. But you don't have to apply for the job, do you? You know it will create some stress."
He says he has been hugely fortified by the people with whom he works. Not a man to dress his every sentence with superlatives, he calls them "fabulous" and insists he couldn't do the job without them.
Nor does the progress made by some of the new All Blacks this year escape his attention. He points to Dunedin where New Zealand played 65 minutes with two locks who had the total of one cap between them, almost unheard of in All Blacks folklore.
"I have huge respect for the players. We were faced with a sudden-death situation; we had to win three games in a row against the other two best sides in the world. To do it was pretty special and it's a huge feather in the cap of rugby development in this country."
Oh, and in case you subscribe to the theory that Tri-Nations rugby standards have dipped, then think again. Henry insists the tournament remains above the standards of any competition in the Northern Hemisphere, filled as he is with respect for the tradition of the Six Nations in Europe.
"For the standard of teams competing, this is the No1 tournament in the world. The quality of the teams in the Six Nations is not as high."
That being the case, and given his similarly onerous exertions earlier in the year in the Super 14, would it not make sense to leave Richie McCaw, the world's greatest player, at home in November? After all, the Northern Hemisphere countries are not exactly slow to leave behind some of their top players when they tour in June.
Yet Henry sounds shocked at my suggestion.
For a start, he says, it would be against the tradition of All Blacks rugby. They will take 35 players, some of them new, and McCaw will get a rest at times. But that's as far as it goes.
Yet he takes the point. The All Blacks, he warns, will have to have some time out of the game to rest and recuperate otherwise they will fall over.
But where the cavalry is most needed is to protect and nurture New Zealand's captain, a man of inestimable value. "It will be a priority to find a back-up No7. Daniel Braid is one possibility but there are also one or two other guys we want to have a look at."
Replacing Captain McCaw? That's as tough a task as Saving Private Ryan, something even Henry acknowledges. "You will never get another McCaw, he's very, very rare. But we need to find the best player behind Richie and develop him."
This process of building a new All Black squad ready for 2011 may have some surprising reinforcements. Henry says that Luke McAlister should be home for the next international season and Doug Howlett is also talking about returning.
"I wouldn't be surprised if others are thinking the same way. We can't pick the overseas guys at the moment because of our policy, with which I agree incidentally. Then there's a guy like Joe Rokocoko who has been out for the whole Tri-Nations this year."
Suffice to say, the All Blacks coach believes there are plenty of grounds for cautious optimism. But, casting an eye beyond his native shores, he does have concerns for the wider rugby playing world, especially the vexed issue of the ELVs. Inevitably, these have gone down about as well as a lead balloon in the Northern Hemisphere, but Henry insists they have great merit.
"When we first started using the new laws at the beginning of the Super 14, there was some pretty bleak rugby. But it got better and better. Players got comfortable with the rules and the referees got better at refereeing them.
"There have been some fabulous spectacles in the Tri-Nations with the ball in play much more than under the old laws."
But if the Northern Hemisphere digs in and refuses to sanction them, what would the Southern Hemisphere countries do? Talk of a possible worldwide split is growing, but Henry shudders at that thought. "I believe the game would decrease as a spectacle if we went back to the old laws. It would have a negative effect on the way the game is played because people won't take risks under those laws.
"The Northern Hemisphere people have their heads in the sand.
"In Europe, they get big crowds because they have a big population base. Down here, we have to play a good game in the right style because we don't have that population.
"We cannot afford a split. If there is one, it will give the club competitions of England and France more power. There needs to be a lot of talk around the table and that may be tough."
But that can wait for next year. The fish can't and right now, that's a priority.
- INDEPENDENT
