Rugby World Cup 2015: I might not get asked about 2007 again - Graham Henry

Richie McCaw and Graham Henry after the All Blacks' loss to France in 2007. Photo / Getty Images

The All Blacks' demolition of France has enabled Sir Graham Henry to sleep easy.

Writing in the Guardian, the former All Black coach said that the 62-13 crushing of the old World Cup enemy at Cardiff meant "I might not get asked about a certain match in 2007 any longer".

"The All Blacks were superb against France and I can move on from the quarter-final at the Millennium Stadium eight years ago, a big fat black line drawn under it; closure at last," he wrote.

"For the players and management on Saturday who had been there in 2007, the past would have been tucked into a little compartment in their minds, but the focus would have been on the present and getting the job done."

Henry said a weak pool had allowed the All Blacks to " work harder on their gameplan, strength, conditioning and skill execution than never before".

He believed an injury-hit Wales had run out of petrol in their quarter-final against South Africa, who he described as "largely one-dimensional, one-off forward runners who went into contact high so that the ball from the breakdown was slow, leaving some quality in their backline largely unemployed."

On the Scotland-Australia controversy after Australia's late winning goal, he said:

"...whatever the rulebook rights and wrongs of that final penalty, it surely needs to reflect the severity of the offence which was nothing more than an accidental offside.. on such fine margins are matches decided and reputations made."