All Blacks coach suspected World Cup fix
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Former All Blacks coach Graham Henry has revealed he suspected possible match-fixing in the All Blacks shock 2007 World Cup loss to France but his plea for an investigation was rejected.
Henry’s suspicions are revealed in advance excerpts from his soon-to-be released biography “Graham Henry: Final Word”.
In the book, he tells how he “briefly contemplated match-fixing as the only logical explanation” for the upset 20-18 loss to France in the 2007 World Cup quarter-finals, Fairfax Media reported on Sunday.
Henry, who stepped down as All Blacks coach after guiding the team to win the 2011 World Cup, said he was stunned by the lopsided penalty count which heavily favoured France.
He analysed video of the game and, in a report to the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU), he urged it to “pressure the International Rugby Board to institute an inquiry”.
According to the biography, he believed the video “would confirm that referee Wayne Barnes and his touch judges, Jonathan Kaplan from South Africa and Tony Spreadbury from England, hadn’t exactly covered themselves in glory at the Millennium Stadium, that they had missed an obvious forward pass when France scored the match-winning try – a pass so forward everyone in the stadium had witnessed it except the referee – and that Barnes had been pretty lenient on the French at the breakdowns, probably costing the All Blacks the game”.
The video contained statistical breakdowns that showed the All Blacks had an overwhelming 73 per cent territorial advantage, won 166 rucks to 42 and made only 73 tackles compared with France’s 331.
The NZRU chose not to seek an investigation and Henry felt it was “incomprehensible” the International Rugby Board did not have strategies in place to investigate bizarre matches.
Biography author and veteran New Zealand rugby writer Bob Howitt wrote: “He knew if a comparable situation had occurred in other sports, it would be investigated.
“But there existed a blissful purity about rugby, or at least that’s how everyone wanted to perceive it. It wasn’t politically correct to even suggest the match officials might have favoured one team.”
The All Blacks had been hot favourites to go through and win the tournament, and Henry told Radio Sport that something didn’t feel right about the shock loss to France.
“I’ve been involved in 140 Test matches and 20 years of coaching at provincial level or the level above and 12 years of coaching international rugby and I’ve never been involved in a game that was like this game,” he said.
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- All Blacks, Graham Henry, Rugby Union
July 29th 2012 @ 9:13pm
Carnivean said | July 29th 2012 @ 9:13pm | Report comment
PDV says match-fixing and he is rightly laughed off. Henry says match-fixing, does he get laughed off too?
It is nuts that there isn’t a process to investigate dodgy games though.
July 30th 2012 @ 12:41pm
Jokerman said | July 30th 2012 @ 12:41pm | Report comment
Last 60 minutes, All Blacks mostly on attack not one penalty. A blatant forward pass in the French try, no mention by the ref’s. Luke McAlister sin binned for holding his ground when the french kicked the ball through….Something was dodgy, simply bizarre.
July 30th 2012 @ 2:08pm
Jerry said | July 30th 2012 @ 2:08pm | Report comment
I’ve never had a problem with McAlister’s sin bin to be fair. He didn’t just hold his ground IMO.
July 30th 2012 @ 2:53pm
rae1 said | July 30th 2012 @ 2:53pm | Report comment
Should he have been sin binned for that perceived offense though? I would have thought a penalty would suffice. Suspect to say the least.
July 30th 2012 @ 3:24pm
Jerry said | July 30th 2012 @ 3:24pm | Report comment
It was a kick into the in-goal. A sin bin, while possibly harsh, isn’t really unusual in those circumstances.
July 31st 2012 @ 12:31pm
mania said | July 31st 2012 @ 12:31pm | Report comment
jerry – it was a kick that mcalistair turned to chase when the french guy ran into his back. not only is mcalsitair allowed to hold his line he’s allowed to chase the ball. why did the french guy run into him. to fool the ref and draw a penalty. it wasnt even that clever but barnes fell for it
July 31st 2012 @ 12:24pm
Jokerman said | July 31st 2012 @ 12:24pm | Report comment
I don’t think so Jerry, even Spiro’s say’s “Luke McAlister was given a yellow card towards the end of the match for an offence that hardly rated a penalty.” Indeed! Harden up Jerry! Lol
July 29th 2012 @ 9:13pm
Jutsy said | July 29th 2012 @ 9:13pm | Report comment
Harden up henry
July 29th 2012 @ 9:20pm
Johnno said | July 29th 2012 @ 9:20pm | Report comment
-Funny how he mentions 2007 world cup. One could also use the 1995 world cup suzy incident too.
-Funy how Sir Grahame and he was 1 point from not being a sir. Why doesn’t he mentions Craig joubert’s world cup effort lol, or bryce lawrence quarter final vs the aussies cough cough. funny that Sir Grahame .
-He does Grahame make a great point how the IRB has no corruption unit like the ICC cricket group has. He said he can’t believe it, conveniently after he was won the world cup for NZ in NZ, now that he has sealed that and no longer coaches he can become the good samaratun , like the politician after they resign suddenly beam so humanaritian and caring in there outlook not agenda based. Eg former PM Malcom Fraser.
-I’d love henry to talk about these issues on the night of the AB’S world cup win last year.
July 29th 2012 @ 9:41pm
Jerry said | July 29th 2012 @ 9:41pm | Report comment
People love to compare the 07 1/4 with the 11 final, but they’re not even remotely comparable.
The French in 11 had a period of about 20 minutes where they were on top but rarely got within striking distance (though were awarded one kickable penalty). The AB’s in 07 had 80% territory for the entire match and spent something like 8 minutes in the French 22 in the second half alone and weren’t awarded a single penalty in the last 60 minutes of the match.
The 11 final is the usual ref whinge – there may be some substance in the odd incident but there’s a bunch of others that even things up (and you might remember that incoming IRB ref boss Joel Jutge – a Frenchman – went through the tape and concluded that Joubert did a great job overall). The 07 1/4 was simply an absurdity.
July 30th 2012 @ 8:35am
Ash said | July 30th 2012 @ 8:35am | Report comment
Come on the ’11 final was as rigged as it gets.
July 30th 2012 @ 8:37am
mania said | July 30th 2012 @ 8:37am | Report comment
ash – and the 2007 or the 1995 wasnt? not saying they were rigged just wondering whether you think they were above board
July 30th 2012 @ 9:17am
Jerry said | July 30th 2012 @ 9:17am | Report comment
No, Ash. It really wasn’t. And it’s completely hilarious to me that people think 07 and 11 are remotely comparable in terms of being screwed by the ref.
Were there a few calls Joubert could have made for the French? Sure. There were some he could have made for the AB’s too. But it’s not even in the same stratosphere as what happened in Cardiff.
July 30th 2012 @ 11:40am
ohtani's jacket said | July 30th 2012 @ 11:40am | Report comment
If the 2011 final was rigged, Joubert sure could have made things a hell of a lot easier for us.
July 31st 2012 @ 2:25pm
Ash said | July 31st 2012 @ 2:25pm | Report comment
Ask the French and everywhere outside of NZ and the majority will say ’11 was completely dodgy.
July 31st 2012 @ 2:37pm
kovana said | July 31st 2012 @ 2:37pm | Report comment
True, the Majority think it was quite a bad reffing performance by Joubert,,,,
But yet Kiwis seem to think that the Majority of the Rugby world is wrong in this assessment.
July 29th 2012 @ 9:52pm
atlas said | July 29th 2012 @ 9:52pm | Report comment
His opinion – are you saying he is not entitled to that?
as the book is not released yet, this merely a short segment – written by a journalist, seizing on a few quotes – I expect there is a mention of the 2011 RWC; as it is his biography I’d expect him to write about how he felt at such events – it would be a pity if he’d skipped the 2007 RWC as it was rather significant at the time, and does form an important part of his All Black coaching career – the success of which – in winning percentage terms – has never been matched over one hundred-plus games.
Easy for an internet blowhard to, well, blow-hard on the strength of a few words which are not even a cut from a 304-page book, they are an interpretation from an NZPA writer.
Read the whole book and give an appraisal of his career then.
The advertised synopsis says: GH has experienced his share of crushing setbacks and disappointments” – covering “four decades and more than 500 matches from schoolboy to international level.”
July 30th 2012 @ 10:30am
Ryan said | July 30th 2012 @ 10:30am | Report comment
Atlas did you not see 20/20 last night, its not just a book. Henry also made these comments on Camera
July 29th 2012 @ 9:28pm
Cugel said | July 29th 2012 @ 9:28pm | Report comment
A union game decided by penalties? Say isn’t so.
July 29th 2012 @ 9:53pm
Royce Strauss said | July 29th 2012 @ 9:53pm | Report comment
Funny that, because I suspect a world cup fix in the 2011 quarters. Wayne Barnes missed one forward pass. Bryce Lawrence on the other hand was from the outset, intent on doing one thing and one thing only. I’m sure he’s happy being protected by the IRB and not being allowed to ref in South Africa. People disappear all the time there.
July 29th 2012 @ 10:03pm
Carnivean said | July 29th 2012 @ 10:03pm | Report comment
So you and PDV share the same line of thought. How embarrassing for you.
July 30th 2012 @ 12:42pm
Royce Strauss said | July 30th 2012 @ 12:42pm | Report comment
Go watch the youtube video on the game someone uploaded pointing out every thing Lawrence ignored. The Boks have had the All Blacks number over the 4 years that PdV was coach – as much as he was a joke. I think head to head it was 5-4 despite the Boks obviously fielding weakened sides in some of those AB wins. Whilst the All Blacks have dominated the Wallabies. Clearly the NZRU would have wanted to play the Wallabies in the semis and not the Boks – who they were likely to meet.
Don’t get snippy.
July 30th 2012 @ 2:02pm
Jerry said | July 30th 2012 @ 2:02pm | Report comment
While watching that youtube clip you might also notice that Lawrence gave the Boks a couple of kickable penalties which Morne missed. If he was trying to railroad the Boks out of the match, why did he give them twice as many kickable penalties as Australia? Why would give them any?
July 30th 2012 @ 4:06pm
biltongbek said | July 30th 2012 @ 4:06pm | Report comment
Far be it from me to get involved in your spat, but Australia conceded only 5 penalties in the match,
whilst camping in their half for most of the game.
July 30th 2012 @ 4:57pm
Jerry said | July 30th 2012 @ 4:57pm | Report comment
And 4 of those were in kickable range.
July 30th 2012 @ 7:20pm
WQ said | July 30th 2012 @ 7:20pm | Report comment
The YouTube video is as big a joke as your opinion on this topic!
July 30th 2012 @ 7:22pm
biltongbek said | July 30th 2012 @ 7:22pm | Report comment
It seems we all bury our heads in the sand every now and then.
July 31st 2012 @ 6:22am
mania said | July 31st 2012 @ 6:22am | Report comment
royce “The Boks have had the All Blacks number over the 4 years that PdV was coach” WOW u have got to be kidding. PDV didnt have his own teams number let alone the AB’s
July 29th 2012 @ 10:07pm
Jerry said | July 29th 2012 @ 10:07pm | Report comment
“Wayne Barnes missed one forward pass.”
Yeah – that’s all he missed. Well done Royce….
July 30th 2012 @ 7:23am
winston said | July 30th 2012 @ 7:23am | Report comment
Henry is also saying that after he analysed the game on video, up to 40 french penalties were missed. ABs got awarded 2.
In context though, this is a biography so why cant he say what he what he was feeling at time.
July 30th 2012 @ 8:11am
Team taniwha said | July 30th 2012 @ 8:11am | Report comment
At least Lawrence has come out and admitted he got things wrong. What has Barnes ever said?
Having said that, seems a cheap way for Henry to boost his book sales, but by the amount of media inches he is getting, an effective one. If interested in what he says on the radio, go to following link and click the 07:17-07:30 slot – http://www.radiosport.co.nz/listen-on-demand/weekondemand/
July 30th 2012 @ 10:33am
Ryan said | July 30th 2012 @ 10:33am | Report comment
Well he couldn’t exactly come out and bag the NZRU for not backing his suggestions when he was the coach now could he?
Come on people think about it, as with many things in life people do not come out with their true thoughts until they are out of the situation.
July 29th 2012 @ 10:05pm
Jutsie said | July 29th 2012 @ 10:05pm | Report comment
In all seriousness poor form by a so called senior ambassador of the game.
The golden rule of any sport is that you should always respect the referee’s decision, what example is he setting to young supporters by these comments.
Its bad enough when we have spiro writing an article a week criticising refs but then you have a world cup winning coach coming out and complaining about a game that was played 5 years ago. And his accusation is based on nothing other than a lopsided penalty count and that the fact that someone would dare beat the AB’s. Talk about sour grapes and a sense of entitlement.
I’ve lost a lot of regard for henry if this quote is straight from his mouth.
And we wonder why there is a dearth of good quality refs going around anymore, who would want the gig when they are treated like this.
July 30th 2012 @ 6:39am
Kuruki said | July 30th 2012 @ 6:39am | Report comment
Rubbish.
Why should officials be exempt from criticism? They ultimately hold the fate of both sides in their hands. If they have a shocker then they should be held accountable. I would be interested to know if in any game since there has been a team not give away a single penalty for 60 minutes.
There is a dearth of good quality refs because the shocking ones have been able to stay at the top for so long because nobody is allowed to criticize them and they are a protected species allowed to continue to ruin the game week in week out.
July 30th 2012 @ 9:27am
Jutsie said | July 30th 2012 @ 9:27am | Report comment
there’s difference between reasonable criticism and accusing referees of match fixing.
Hysterical claims like this bring the game into disrepute, you expect comments like this from disgruntled fans not national coaches.
July 30th 2012 @ 10:36am
Ryan said | July 30th 2012 @ 10:36am | Report comment
Oh dear I am sure GH will be beside himself because a blogger at the Roar called Jutsie has lost some regard for the man………
July 30th 2012 @ 10:49am
Jutsie said | July 30th 2012 @ 10:49am | Report comment
Lol and im sure that SANZAR and the reds are devastated that you think the conference system gave them an unfair advantage in 2011.
Self awareness one of your strong points?
July 30th 2012 @ 10:51am
Ryan said | July 30th 2012 @ 10:51am | Report comment
Oh dear Jutsie is that the best you can come back with…..?
July 30th 2012 @ 11:01am
Jutsie said | July 30th 2012 @ 11:01am | Report comment
Whats there to comeback to? You kindly alerted me to the fact that no one of importance reads these blogs. So I returned the favour.
Thanks for the heads up I wouldn’t want to waste my time repeating the same point ad-nauseam on every single article would I?
July 30th 2012 @ 10:41am
Riccardo said | July 30th 2012 @ 10:41am | Report comment
Jutsie,
I believe it is precisely because he is no longer the National Coach that he has made these comments. The fact he felt strongly enough about it to encourage an investigation (behind closed doors) yet remain tight lipped while being courted and ridiculed by the rugby world’s media answers your question.
I guess the fact he’s got a book being released soon is part of it too
July 30th 2012 @ 10:53am
Jutsie said | July 30th 2012 @ 10:53am | Report comment
I also think he’s bringing it up 5 years later to generate interest in his book, that’s what makes it sadder. Attacking the credibility of our game in the interest of a few extra bucks.
He may not be coach now but his is still (or was) a respected elder statesmen of the game and should know better.
To accuse international refs of corruption is a huge deal. I hope this is a misquote.
July 30th 2012 @ 11:10am
Ryan said | July 30th 2012 @ 11:10am | Report comment
Yeah that makes sense doesn’t it Jutsie, just say nothing at all and let it all be swept under the carpet.
Why should he just sit there and say nothing at all if he actually truly believes there is corruption in rugby.
Could you imagine the uproar had he come out with this immediately after the game?
Do you think he would have maintained his position within the All Blacks?
Would you come out and publicly berate your employer and expect to maintain your role within the organization?
Henry urged the NZRU to press the IRB to investigate but in reality I do not think the NZRU wanted to rock the boat knowing that they would be hosting the WC in 2011 and the ramifications that it may have brought, there was every possibility that NZ may have been stripped of hosting rights had they pushed this matter.
Something wasn’t right with that match far from it, but hey its done and dusted NZ are the reigning World Champions onwards and upwards.
P.s Henry being the man that he is would not have made such statements lightly, but of course I’m sure your about to tell us differently.
July 30th 2012 @ 3:46pm
Kuruki said | July 30th 2012 @ 3:46pm | Report comment
The reason it has been brought up 5 years later is because he has written it in his book. If he published this book 3 years ago it would have come out then.
July 30th 2012 @ 11:40am
Steve Burman said | July 30th 2012 @ 11:40am | Report comment
This golden rule is of course why SA cricketers got away with match fixing until someone challenged it. Ridiculous argument, why do we seriously suggest that match-fixing cannot happen in rugby when we have plenty of evidence it does exist at some time in many sports.
If we have a serious review of ref’s and they find nothing then fine, but some would rather we put our head in the sand and pretend our refs are all angels. Seriously, it the refs can do no wrong argument (which we all know cannot be true, we see them stuff up all the time) which leads to all the debate. A serious way of monitoring refs performance (rather than relying on self assessment which is well known as flawed) would heighten respect for the good refs, not lessen.
July 30th 2012 @ 11:55am
Jutsie said | July 30th 2012 @ 11:55am | Report comment
Guys if you think its fair to accuse a ref of corruption based purely on the fact that the penalty count was lopsided and the result did pan out like all expected then fair play to you.
So next time mark reason writes a piece about the culture of cheating apparent at the all blacks and crusaders I hope you guys cop it on the chin and say he has a right to express his opinion and shed light on this gross injustice.
As the old saying goes “whats good for the goose is good for the gander”
July 30th 2012 @ 12:34pm
Ryan said | July 30th 2012 @ 12:34pm | Report comment
A classic post from someone who has nothing
July 30th 2012 @ 12:45pm
Jutsie said | July 30th 2012 @ 12:45pm | Report comment
Oh the irony.
July 30th 2012 @ 1:17pm
Riccardo said | July 30th 2012 @ 1:17pm | Report comment
Jutsie, I don’t think your comparing apples with apples here to be fair.
This is not simply a case of a poor display of refereeing like we read about here all the time and I think we can all agree, Sir Graham included, that one of the reasons the result didn’t pan out was that the All Blacks were sub-par that afternoon in Cardiff. We lost 2 fly halves, Mauger was in the stands & McAlistair was sinbinned (incorrectly). However as I have stated in a post further down our onfield leadership was also poor and this too contributed to the result. IMO we still could have and should have won.
Anyway back to your statement “…the penalty count was lopsided…”. While essentially true this is a broad brush. Some actual analysis which has been posted by many Roarers in this thread illustrates there was something patently wrong with the officiating in this match. NIL penalties or free kicks for the attacking team for 60 minutes is something that has never happened before and will never happen again under current legislature. Combining that with possession, territory, tackle count and minutes in the opposition 22 makes it frankly a farce.
You are entitled to draw your own conclusions as are we but as I have already said Sir Graham is entitled to proffer his opinion on a fixture that nearly cost him his career.
July 30th 2012 @ 1:28pm
Jutsie said | July 30th 2012 @ 1:28pm | Report comment
Ricardo I understand what your saying and to make it clear I would have no issue with Henry or anyone else criticising the refereeing performance that day or Bryce’s in last years QF.
But to mention match fixing is a very strong accusation to make and as Atawhai Drive mentions below is defamatory.
You need a lot more evidence than just analysing the on field performance and results to make such an accusation.
July 30th 2012 @ 3:53pm
Kuruki said | July 30th 2012 @ 3:53pm | Report comment
Jutsie he actually asked if there was a system available to look into betting irregularities surrounding the game. he was told there was not. And he was also told by the NZRU to drop it.
This went beyond sour grapes. He honestly thinks he was cheated and his stats from that game back him up to the point that he would probably own the courtroom.
July 29th 2012 @ 10:41pm
biltongbek said | July 29th 2012 @ 10:41pm | Report comment
I wonder whether PDV would be able to analyse the 2011 QF, probably not.
July 29th 2012 @ 11:07pm
Johnno said | July 29th 2012 @ 11:07pm | Report comment
-If the IRB were serious they’d have a match fixing committee like the ICC cricket do. Rugby is a great game spoiled by 2 many dodgy referee designs. Or have 2 refs on the pitch or 1 ref per half, but the ref standard has to change. PDV biltongbek will try and analyse anything, but whether or not he is accurate well that is a different story.
-And Grahame Henry i think will always be haunted by losing the 2001 lions series that really cut him up i think, he did change some of his coaching methods. Maybe it is was watershed moment than a haunting moment but i think that really bothered him really dented his pride especially as his training and management skills got a lot of stick heavily crittisiced.
July 30th 2012 @ 1:06am
Mella said | July 30th 2012 @ 1:06am | Report comment
Since the RWC became big business which is post the 1995 cup and the advent of professionalism every RWC is basically fixed in that the IRB have to get one of England or France into the final. Rugby’s a small sport there is only 2 large countries where its moderately popular if either dont make the final its a big blow to the IRB and its ridiculous claim the RWC is the worlds 3rd biggest sporting event. It also means they do anything to keep the Island nations from getting past the quarters or god forbid the semi’s, thats when you see the strongest refereeing bias.
July 30th 2012 @ 2:01am
AIS said | July 30th 2012 @ 2:01am | Report comment
SHHHHHHHHH!! You’re not supposed to say that.
Of course it’s the 3rd biggest event because the IRB said so on the website. No further proof needed, right?
July 30th 2012 @ 5:20am
mania said | July 30th 2012 @ 5:20am | Report comment
IRB cant afford to have the stigma of match fixing. hence no corruption team. fair enuff too, it would muddy the waters and bring rugby into disrepute.
saying that the 1/4′s of 07 was bizarre. i remeber watching it and having a horrible gut feeling and flash backs of when my team had been reffed out of the games. imo AB’s never stood a chance. barnes was gonna ref them out of that game no matter what they did.
its a horrible feeling when you realise the ref is totally against u and u cant do anything about it. you feel useless and helpless.
henry’s allowed to voice his opinion. he needs to get it off his chest but this doesnt mean that all kiwi’s share his opinion.
its over and done with and AB’s redeemed themselves in 2011. anyone who has issues with the way the AB’s won the WC 2011 should be directed to how the AB’s were treated in 2007 quarters. swings and round abouts.
AB’s have just kept knocking on that door and in 2011 it finally opened again for them. now that AB’s have another taste they’ll be hungry for more. they’ll keep knocking and have set backs along the way but in no way will the AB’s ever consider not knocking and not going for the golden grail of rugby