KEY POINTS:
If you could be Chris Moller for a day, what would be your first move as head of the New Zealand Rugby Union?
Apart, that is, from glancing towards Auckland and wondering if a bunch of B-grade politicians are going to produce the stuff-up of all stuff-ups and
fail to build a stadium fit for the World Cup.
No, the first move would be to jump for joy at the sight of an All Black side that has not only produced one of the most stunning displays in the game's history against France, but is primed to rule the rugby world for a long time. Sunday morning will live long in the memory, a game where perfect turbo-charged defence deflated the supposedly second best side in the world to the point that every time the All Blacks got hold of the ball, a try was in the offing. Magnificent.
My next Moller move would be to shuffle along to Graham Henry's room, and start talking about a contract extension past the next World Cup and if needed, encourage the coach towards a long-term future.
I was among a small media group - which may have numbered only one - who believed that John Mitchell should have been retained after the last World Cup, which ended in despair at the hands of those inventive Australians.
The theory is simple. As long as they have the basic gifts, coaches thrive on security and can only get better for the experience. To continually change coaches on the basis of one game going wrong, which is often what happens at a World Cup, is not logical. It is self-defeating, and involves throwing away priceless trench time that the new man has to go through again.
In the case of Mitchell, one overly-risky Carlos Spencer pass may have been all there was between so-called failure and getting our hands on the Webb Ellis Trophy.
Conjecture, I know, but Mitchell - who had a decent record in a comparatively short time in the job - was dismissed in a swirl of controversy about his management style which had nothing at all to do with the central issue of his coaching ability and potential. He really wasn't given much of a chance.
The obsession with winning the World Cup - and subsequent despair at failure - harms the long-term strategies needed to win it. Maybe that's why countries with more limited resources have continued to triumph, getting the most out of their troops through - up until 2003 anyway - calmer and more reasoned planning.
So what about Henry?
He has taken the running of the All Blacks to a brilliant new level, right from his opening move of surrounding himself with Steve Hansen, Wayne Smith and Sir Brian Lochore.
Henry has got an All Black camp that includes the largest group of current test players reading off the same page, buying into the Henry way of doing things. This is not an easy task.
On the playing side, the All Blacks' defensive system is forging ahead with such ferocity and efficiency that it is threatening to swamp all comers. This has been a trait of Henry's teams since he returned from Wales.
The key and most encouraging element to Henry, the ex-headmaster, is his ability to learn from experiences good and bad.
Ultimately, Wales proved overwhelming for him, but he came back stronger.
In his days as the Auckland and Blues boss, it could be said that he ignored the upcoming talent and relied too heavily on established stars, which was to the region's detriment after he left. Henry has certainly learnt in that direction, in a way well beyond what the rest of us might have envisaged.
Not all of his election promises, it has to be said, have been delivered upon. Knowing that Mitchell's dealings with the media were regarded as a weak point, he pledged an improvement. The start was promising, but lately there have been grumbles from the media contingent about overly regimented ways, and suggestions that the All Blacks' media department wouldn't look out of place in jackboots. Room for improvement, maybe.
The upsides, though, are overwhelming. Under Henry's stewardship, vital careers - Carl Hayman springs to mind - have been revived, and he is drawing the best out of others such as Jerry Collins and Ali Williams.
All talent spotting involves the odd strike-out, and the hurried elevation of Isaia Toeava is still baffling. But the All Black brains trust has got it right in so many areas - who would have picked Jason Eaton before Henry and company gave him the call.
Certainly, there have been prices to pay along the way. One is that the domestic game is at the beck and call of the All Blacks' bosses, to be used and abused as they see fit.
But the All Blacks drive everything about rugby in New Zealand, including its financial well-being. And Henry is proving to be the master of the marionettes.
The All Blacks, in effect, have become a professional club, and the New Zealand game is set up in that manner with a centrally controlled contract system. Henry is just as much a manager as he is a coach.
To my mind, he shapes as a late-blooming rugby version of Sir Alex Ferguson or Wayne Bennett - men whose talent, experience and staunch character inevitably steer their sides past adversity and back to the winner's podium. Vitally, those men have had unconditional backing from their employers.
New Zealand rugby has distinct advantages - the main one these days being an endless supply of brilliant Polynesian footballers who want to play in the black jersey. When allied with the traditional elements of the New Zealand game, the All Blacks are nigh on unbeatable when they get it right. Henry is getting it right like never before.
Lyon was testament to that, and even if there is the odd hiccup, that's sport. You can't win them all. The big All Black picture now is all Mona Lisa, with little moaning.
There is probably no dire need for haste in sorting out Henry's future or encouraging him to stay on. But win or lose in Europe next year, he has priceless and unique gifts which make him the man to lead the All Blacks well beyond the 2007 season, and there would be no harm in offering gentle and potentially lucrative encouragement right now.
Knowledge, security, patience and long-term strategies are what ultimately win in sport. Quick fixes, especially emotion-fuelled ones, hardly ever fix anything.
Many of us are having to throw our old ideas away in the modern rugby era. Instead of standing there gesticulating at the tide, we have to realise it is turning into an exercise about channelling the waters in the best direction, while still fondly looking back on distant shores. Put more bluntly and specifically, a few of us got the rest and rotation business wrong, although maybe with the best of intentions.
Appointing an All Black coach beyond a World Cup would be a huge departure from the norm, and Henry may not want the distraction or added pressure at this stage.
Yes, there are probably holes in the argument, the most obvious being that if we'd hung on to Mitchell, the brilliant new Henry era would not have dawned.
Of course, a post-2007 appointment isn't going to happen now. But the argument is that should the All Blacks miss out on the World Cup again, it shouldn't lead to the automatic dismissal of the coach. Far from it.
The long-term approach is, without doubt, the winning one and a theory worth promoting again and again.
Henry is a man apart, a resilient and strong character who is ahead of the pack in every way.
At least a quiet word from Moller in Henry's ear wouldn't go amiss.
The coach has already shown enough, I would suggest, to warrant a new warrant. And I suspect he will only get better.