The Henry law

Graham Henry

The Lions tours of 1959 and 1971 had an intense effect on the Henry household.

Father and son, Allen and Graham, were inspired about a brave new rugby world after absorbing those tours and debating the issues for hours at the family's Christchurch home.

"I recall those times very vividly," Graham Henry said as he prepared to coach the All Blacks in their first professional series against the Lions.

Henry's father was unable to play much sport after straining his heart as a youngster. He left school at 12 and educated himself to be a pilot while keeping up his wide interest in rugby and racing.

"He was very keen on rugby and argued like hell about it," Henry recalled.

"He loved talking the game and had a marvellous memory for scores and those who had played well."

Allen Henry's rugby fanaticism took him to watch all four tests on the 1959 Lions visit.

"He was a very balanced man which was very unusual seeing he produced a son like he did," Graham added with his regular dose of sardonic humour.

"He thought the Lions were an outstanding side, even though they were beaten by six goals to four tries in the first test and all that business. He saw the lot and thought the Lions were hard done by. Of course he had difficulty convincing his sons of that in regular discussions over the dinner table."

When the 1971 Lions visited, Graham Henry was similarly fascinated.

"Carwyn James and his side — that was a tour which was very influential on me as a rugby person and certainly had a huge impact on how I coached the game.

"I also believe it was very influential on New Zealand rugby. I think the '71 Lions won the first World Cup for us because we had to change our game.

"We got beaten by a team who played 15-man rugby. We tried to play a forward-oriented style and we weren't in the game.

"That shook the foundations of New Zealand rugby, and from the top down things changed."

Henry was playing then as a five-eighths in Christchurch, someone, he joked, whose rugby progress was impaired by DNA physical limitations. He and a mate also coached the High School Old Boys colts side in a Sunday competition.

After senior players on the '71 Lions tour produced a book talking about the key elements in their positions, Henry and his mate used the HSOB colts as their testing tank.

"We used a lot of ideas from the book and I referred to the book a lot when I was coaching the Auckland Grammar side in the '70s.

"It was my rugby bible for a long time and it is still sitting there in my bookcase. I have not read it for a while — I used to read it a lot — but the game has changed enormously. Since the game has gone professional, it is hugely explosive and physical, it is just a different game."

Not as different as Henry's fortunes since he left Auckland and the Blues in 1998 to coach Wales.

The New Zealand Rugby Union was so miffed they introduced the Henry Law, forbidding those working overseas from returning to coach the All Blacks.

That edict was overturned, while Henry has achieved the unusual distinction of coaching the Lions and All Blacks.

"It's bizarre really, but I have not thought too much about the unique honour," Henry tried to suggest. "I can't see it happening again, and I never thought it would happen either."

Henry told his wife that asking a New Zealander to coach the Lions was outside the realms of possibility.

"I got a hell of a shock when [Lions manager] Donal Lenihan rang me, because I knew he wasn't ringing about my health.

"Really, it was such a great honour to be asked that I did not think about anything else other than that honour."

Why was he chosen?

Henry simply stated that the Lions management thought he was the best man for the job. But, in hindsight, he said he should have listened to the wise old men at the Welsh Rugby Union who thought he could not do justice to both jobs.

"I was hugely busy. Compare that with Clive [Woodward] and Ian [McGeechan] who have fulltime concentration on their Lions coaching, they do not have other responsibilities."

While Henry and his fellow All Black coaches Steve Hansen and Wayne Smith know they have remedial work to do with some of their test squad, they will leave that until the players get into camp.

"There are things some of them need to alter for the style of game we want to play, but there was no way we would interfere with them while they were playing Super 12.

"However, the end-of-year tour to Europe was a huge benefit in that we could work with a larger group of players for a month.

"That has a flow-on effect for this Lions series, while one of the objectives of the tour was to develop some depth for New Zealand rugby, and we managed to do that."

It made this year easier for All Black selection. The panel was more comfortable with their progress than the same time last year.

So how about a prediction then, just like Doug Smith, the manager of the '71 Lions side, Henry admired so much, who correctly forecast a 2-1 winning margin to his side and a draw.

"Smith, Smith, I don't remember anyone of that name," Henry said, surging back into coach-speak. "Predictions . . . no, I'm not into that sort of thing."