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The wife of reinstated All Black coach Graham Henry has gone on the attack on behalf of her husband, sending a critical personal email to one of his biggest World Cup critics, leading sports radio broadcaster Murray Deaker.
Raewyn Henry - who her husband has dubbed the All
Blacks' "fifth selector" in the past because of her rugby knowledge - had been apparently incensed about the marketing of Deaker's new anti-Henry book, in which he pulls apart the All Black coach over the World Cup failure.
The book has been heavily advertised on NewstalkZB, with Deaker saying he and Henry have been mates for 40 years, but "this is not a mates' book". The book lays the blame for the All Blacks' dismal World Cup performance squarely at Henry's feet.
Sources said Raewyn corrected Deaker on any misconceptions he might have had about a friendship, but the broadcaster wasn't willing to go into specifics last night.
"It was private," Deaker said. "It goes back a long way. I have known the family for 40 years and the email relates back to stuff in my past.
"She just reacted about something. Someone asked me the other day if I was going to do something about it and I said I was going to do nothing. Sometimes giving things time is the best way to go."
When asked if he had contacted Raewyn since she sent the email, he said: "The content and tone of the email was such, that I don't think she wants me to get in contact."
Deaker said he thought no differently about Henry as he did 40 years ago - a very good rugby coach and a good bloke. Graham Henry revealed earlier this year that he used Raewyn as a "fifth selector". "She knows the game and can watch a game at home on TV that I might not have seen because I was away at some other game," Henry told Welsh newspaper the Western Mail. "She'll make some pertinent comments about who played well, and when I get to watching that game myself, I'll often think, 'Mmm, she was right'."
Meanwhile, Henry is also happy to pick a fight with critics - those former All Blacks intent on criticising his regime and methods, particularly around the dreaded rotation policy.
Henry told the Herald on Sunday that the criticism was misplaced and ignorant.
"I see a lot of former All Blacks making comments about player welfare," said Henry.
"But they have got no idea of demands placed on the modern player. The game is so much more physical now. The players are bigger and they hit each other with a lot more force and they take a lot longer to recover. If you don't have a player welfare policy in place you are going to lose a lot more tests."
However one former All Black, Herald on Sunday columnist Richard Loe, has taken a swipe at the re-appointment of the 61-year-old.
"Our coaches were substandard, just like the result they led us to," Loe writes in today's newspaper.
"So why would I pay to go and watch the All Blacks now? The prospect just doesn't excite me. Henry's made it clear he won't be sticking the best team on the field, as has Steve Tew. So we'll get more of last year, will we? We'll be playing rotated teams against France B, Canada and South Africa B ...
"People are sick of it. They are disillusioned. I stopped off at a ram sale yesterday and the cockies were swearing away, saying that if Henry was back, they wouldn't be."
Loe suggested New Zealand's two best coaches would now be heading overseas.
"What concerns me now is that we could lose Robbie Deans as well as Warren Gatland - two coaches who are coming to their peak while we have kept a 61-year-old who is a spent force and who embraced flawed policies."
