KEY POINTS:
So the re-appointment of Graham Henry has been confirmed. It seems clear to me from what I've read and from talking to people back home that there is still a good deal of debate, and not much less cynicism and disbelief, about how the least successful All Black World Cup coach managed to get another bite at the cherry.
There is certainly a lot of anti-Henry feeling about. I am not really interested in the politics of how the re-appointment happened (although it seems pretty clear there is definitely one area of our national game that needs to be urgently addressed) but I can, hand on heart, state categorically that I believe the re-appointment of Graham Henry to be the right decision for New Zealand rugby.
I first met Graham Henry when he coached me at University. In fact, it was he who first moved me from prop to hooker in 1983 - a position I subsequently relished for the next 13 years at both club and national level.
I got to know a little about Henry's style, his foibles and his strengths whilst under his tutelage, and since those days I have watched his increasingly high-profile career with interest.
So why is Graham Henry the best man for the job? Number one: he is a very good coach with a phenomenal amount of experience at all levels of the game. He has had huge success in his time, and those who work closely with him rate him exceptionally highly.
Number two: none of the other candidates were better equipped than he to deliver results. There were certainly credible alternatives, but pound for pound Henry is still the big gun.
Plus, he knows the players better than anyone, has worked on developing a style of play that suits us, and we need to build on that, not knock it down and start again.
So I don't want to change the coach - but I do want to see the emphasis shift.
The disconnection of the elite players from the greater New Zealand rugby fraternity is plain wrong. Rugby in New Zealand must be inclusive, and from the grassroots up to the black jersey, must be consistent in its approach and values.
What do I mean? All over the country, on wet and windy parks and paddocks, there are players busting a gut to keep their place in their team why should it be different at international level?
We need to get rid of the rotation system and play the best player in the position until or unless they a) get injured, or b) get pushed off their perch by some young buck who wants their shirt.
Survival of the fittest has got to be a foundation upon which we build our team. When an All Black pulls the shirt on, he should know he is wearing it because he is the best bloke for the job.
We have got to lose the cotton wool approach and expose our best players to regular club and provincial rugby, even if it means an increased risk of injury.
They should be out there week in week out, plying their trade, raising attendance at matches as well as raising their own levels of intensity and endurance. We want our players to be gnarled and battle-hardened, not pampered and protected. Expose them to moments where they must prove they are able to adapt to quickly changing situations, and where they are having to make difficult game decisions when they're dog tired.
Finally, let's also remember that three years ago the NZRU told Henry that his sole mission was to win the World Cup. They effectively told him and the top players that what came before France 2007 mattered less, so long as the Webb Ellis trophy was returned.
That one solitary edict did more harm than many are prepared to credit, and I believe this blind pursuit of the RWC holy grail has created the environment within which the doomed RWC 07 approach was encouraged and allowed to thrive.
Forget the World Cup in 2011. For now, Graham Henry has to lead the way back to what lies at the heart of the All Black tradition.
Henry is a good man, a very good coach, and he has a great pool of playing talent to work with. He has got two years to take the lessons learned from the RWC campaign, to look at where the team came up short in Cardiff, and to change his approach and his focus accordingly.
I for one am confident that, if anyone can set things right, it is Graham Henry.
