Rugby World Cup: Sir Graham Henry to retire from coaching after Black Ferns final

Sir Graham Henry. Photo / Michael Craig

Saturday night’s Rugby World Cup final will be Sir Graham Henry’s last game as a coach.

Henry, who joined the Black Ferns in a mentoring role six months ago, confirmed to TVNZ that he would be retiring after the Ferns’ final against England at a sold out Eden Park.

“You get to your middle 70s and you’re not on your toes like you used to be, and coaching, you’ve got to be on your toes all the time,” he said.

“I’m past being on my toes all the time. It’s time to not do it anymore, it’s time to retire from coaching.”

The 76-year-old Henry, along with head coach Wayne Smith, answered an SOS to join the Black Ferns six months out from the World Cup, after Glenn Moore resigned as head coach following a disastrous Northern tour in 2021 and a damning review into the culture of the team.

Henry, who coached the All Blacks in 103 tests from 2004 up until winning the World Cup 2011, had a reunion of sorts this year along Smith on a coaching team that also included his old All Blacks scrum coach Mike Cron and Whitney Hansen, daughter of Henry’s former assistant coach Steve Hansen.

Graham Henry, Steve Hansen and Wayne Smith in 2011. Photo / Photosport

Win or lose on Saturday night, his stint with the Ferns has been a fitting final chapter in a career that started in Christchurch in 1971, and included stints with Auckland, the Blues, Wales, the British and Irish Lions, and as assistant coach with Argentina.

His coaching career will end in the stands on Saturday, saying it will be “too bloody stressful” to be in the coaching box, and he’d rather send text messages to Smith if he has any final insights as he signs off from coaching.

Henry plans to retire to his home on Waiheke Island.

“You look back and think, hell, you’ve been a lucky man.”