Toby Robson, the smart and informed rugby writer for The Dominion Post, Wellington’s main newspaper, has come up with a corker of a scoop for his newspaper which was headlined: ‘Henry May Sit In The Pumas Box For ABs Test’.
The headline gives the flavour of the story. According to Robson, Henry is not ruling out the possibility of sitting in the visitors’ coaches box at the Westpac Stadium on Saturday night when the All Blacks play their home match against the Pumas.
Henry told Robson in what seems to have been an exclusive interview (the New Zealand Herald did not carry the story yesterday) that he is donning the Argentinian jersey at training for “this week and the next two games against Australia and New Zealand, as I have done for the previous three weeks.”
And would he be sitting in the coaches box? “I don’t know. It hasn’t been discussed.”
But he admitted the only reason why he hadn’t sat in the coaches’ box for The Rugby Championship matches against the Springboks was “because of other commitments.”
The Dominion Post rather mischievously ran a cartoon of Henry wearing the blue and white colours of the Pumas and scowling with his trademark upside down lemon grimace.
Earlier in the season Henry was contracted by the New Zealand Rugby Union to help the Pumas with their preparation for The Rugby Championship.
This help was part of the agreement with Argentina coming into the tournament.
It was accepted at that time that Henry wouldn’t actually help in the specific preparation of the Pumas, especially in the Tests against the All Blacks.
Henry explained at the time that he was overseeing the structure of the Argentinian coaching system and giving generalised advice to the Pumas.
And the main advice was that the team had to more positive in their play and concentrate on trying to score tries rather than penalties.
In a follow-up interview with Robson, Steve Tew, the CEO of the New Zealand Rugby Union, confirmed that Henry was no longer on contract with the New Zealand Rugby Union after becoming an assistant coach of the Auckland Blues.
As a free agent Henry is not constrained by intellectual property commitments to the New Zealand Rugby Union: “He can make his own calls,” Tew admitted ruefully.
Tew insisted that what Henry knew about the 2012 version of the All Blacks was already “stale”.
However, he didn’t really answer Robson’s question when it was put to him: “So are the New Zealand Rugby Union uncomfortable with Henry’s expanded role this weekend?”
He would be worried, as many others in New Zealand are, that Henry has a great deal of knowledge (which he was instrumental in creating) of the inner workings of the All Blacks and their tactics in specific moments in a tight game.
This brings us back to the case of Robbie Deans and the Wallabies and the nonsense raised by many people in the Australian rugby community that a New Zealander and an All Black to boot doesn’t have his heart in coaching a side to beat the All Blacks.
Last Saturday I aroused a hornet’s nest of emails, blogs and comments when I wrote about this in the Sydney Morning Herald and suggested that in the professional era of rugby “career trumps nationality“.
The action of Henry suggests that this was a correct response to some xenophobic rantings from Australian Birthers against Deans.
Does any one believe that Henry is an All Blacks stalking horse in the Pumas camp? Yet we have had people on The Roar and other websites making this very same argument about Deans and the Wallabies.
As I pointed out in the SMH, the All Blacks have lost only 10 Tests since 2008 and three of those losses were inflicted by the Deans-coached Wallabies.
Last season, too, the Wallabies won the Tri Nations tournament for the first time in a decade. This is hardly stalking horse behaviour.
I might add that Henry’s contribution to the Pumas cause has coincided with a lacklustre defeat in South Africa which was followed by a 16-16 draw which the Pumas had much the better of play against the Springboks.
The fact is that for decades, New Zealand coaches in particular but increasingly coaches from other countries have been helping national sides from places other than their birth countries.
The Warbrick brothers from New Zealand were early influential coaches in Australia in the 1900s, for instance.
Chris Laidlaw, a super All Blacks halfback in the 1960s, almost coached Fiji to an upset victory over the All Blacks in Suva when he was a young New Zealand diplomat there.
Like all the others to come of his ilk, there was nothing of the stalking horse there.
Three New Zealanders have coached Wales in recent years: Henry, Steve Hansen and now Warren Gatland.
In 2007 we had the unforgettable sight of Eddie Jones, a former Wallaby coach, working with the Springboks during their successful 2007 Rugby World Cup campaign.
As the Springboks progressed through the tournament, it was noticeable that Jones was emboldened to wear more and more Springboks gear. By the end of the tournament he was a fully outfitted member of the Springboks camp.
Jones now coaches Japan. Does anyone believe that when Japan plays the Wallabies that Jones will tell his players to hold back?
By way of reciprocation with Jones, I would guess Jake White, the successful Springbok coach in Rugby World Cup 2007, was asked by the ARU to come down to Melbourne before the Australia – Wales Test to review the coaching systems that were in place.
Apparently, White was happy with the coaching systems and structures Deans had arranged.
My guess is that Henry will actually bring a lot to the Pumas camp, just as Deans has brought a lot to the Wallabies. And for the same reason.
Both are successful and smart coaches whose presence enhances the performance of any group of players they happen to be involved with.
When Henry sits with his fellow coaches on Saturday night – as with Deans in a similar circumstance when the Wallabies play the All Blacks – he won’t be coaching so much against the All Blacks but more for the Pumas.
And that is the long and short of the matter.
richard
Guest
A " historic draw with the ab's"; yes, but that was a long time ago - was against Mourie's team around 1980, heard bits of that commentary, and being in spanish, I understood only one word, Porta, as in hugo, as he almost single- handedly bought the ab's to their knees, with 7 drop-goals. Would I be right in saying nz is the only team to be unbeaten v them? Of course with them now in the RC, it is only a matter of time before that changes. As you say, Argentina is no minnow nation!
WQ
Guest
Red Kev, the reference to 'race of people' was merely a poor choice of words on my behalf and you clearly understand the direction of my question, which by the way you have still not answered? With that in mind I will ask you again this time with different words - Red Kev, do you think that Australians are the only group of people in the world that 'have a go' when the odds are stacked against them? You say the Wallabies are not having a go under Deans, does this not shoot a great big hole in your theory that Australians always 'have a go' when the odds are stacked against them! You will not get an argument out of me re: Robbie Deans ability to communicate, however you don't think that maybe, just maybe there may be some other issues contributing to their downfall?
liam
Guest
Ben, the IQ and integrity levels of the roar dropped a fair few points as soon as you linked to Green and gold. careful!
Wallaby Reality
Guest
Good call. An amazing feat of wordsmithery. Unfortunately, it is defending the indefensible. And then to top it off, this classic line "just as Deans has brought a lot to the Wallabies. And for the same reason." Please, just stop it, stop it now. Send in the clowns. All RD has bought to the Wallabies is a style of play which is so poor that we are getting beaten by teams such as Scotland and Samoa, who would have been rolled by 3 out of the 5 Super Rugby sides in Australia, but managed to belt the Deans coached Wallabies.
Derm
Roar Guru
I was aware of that contradiction, Ben. It was written at the time of his appointment. As far as I'm aware, I don't think that Spiro Zavos has used that moniker in his writings since. I'm not familiar enough with Australian slang or everyday language to determine if Dingo is an affectionate term or not. If you look up a definition online, you are given a couple of choices - Wild dog or a cowardly or treacherous person. Or is an Australian name as well? Perhaps someone might enlighten us. ,
Gravity basher
Guest
I think mark hammet is the best coach in the world today
Gravity basher
Guest
Why the anger?
Worlds biggest
Guest
Argentina a minnow rugby nation, you have got to be joking. 3rd place in 2007 World Cup and quarter finalists in 1999 & 2011. Add a historic draw with the AB's. They are consistently ranked in the top 10. All of this is hardly the achievement of a minnow nation.
Red Kev
Roar Guru
1 - Australians aren't a race. 2 - The point is that the Wallabies under Deans don't have a go. 3 - Everyone is searching for a reason Deans is not coaching the Wallabies to play well – that is all the communication barrier is, a theory on why it isn't working, personally I think it has nothing to do with the cultural difference between Aus and NZ, I just think Deans is a terrible communicator. In the end though the reason is irrelevant – the fact is he is not coaching them to play well so he should be fired.
WQ
Guest
Red Kev, this is not the first time I have heard this type of comment from you. Tell me, do you honestly think that Australians are the only race of people in the world that 'have a go' when the odds are against them?
TahDan
Roar Guru
What? Like winning the Tri Nations, helping steer the team to a record against the Springboks that is unparalleled in Australian history and just coming off a 3 nil defeat of the 6 Nations champs? Look, I know a lot of you out there think that losing to the All Blacks means that the wallabies must suck, but - as every other team in the world has discovered - beating the All Blacks is bloody hard work! Hell, Ireland have had some great team lately and they've never beaten them in 100 years
Jnrn
Guest
Who cares at least someone helpin them the argies are nt the top four team yet but this tournament will make them one so good they r in and now we get to see Juan Martin Hernandez vs Dan Carter/cruden or Fernandez Lobbie vs Reid even roncero vs franks even the young centre who didn't look to bad against the springboks see how he fairs against nonu and smith but most of all bring the on the wkend
Paddyboy
Guest
Atawhai Drive, very clever
soapit
Guest
first i've heard of dingo's being a derogatory term. lovely (though wild) animals. pretty sure its ironic and something that starts with a d and nothing more
Justin2
Guest
Deans a doer? What a laugh, he doesnt do match come match day! Tactically inept and out of his depth at Test level.
Atawhai Drive
Roar Guru
Another successful All Blacks coach, Alex Wyllie, wore the coaches' hat with the Pumas for a few years in the 1990s, getting them to the quarter-finals of the World Cup in 1999. But it was generally believed that Grizz didn't have the cattle to take the Pumas any further. I thought at the time that perception about available player talent was probably correct. Is that what's holding the Wallabies back? We'll see where they are at (again) on Saturday night. The Springboks allegedly will play their traditional 10-man game. I'll hope the Wallabies impose their own pattern on the Boks, but I'm not confident.
Atawhai Drive
Roar Guru
Nice one, Aussie Kiwi, it isn't every day we get a reference to Kim Philby and Donald Maclean on The Roar. Such subtlety beats a Blunt contribution every time.
atlas
Guest
Rattue! anything for a headline Henry was confirmed as technical advisor to Pumas in May, with NZRU support, to spend 5 weeks with the Argentine coaches then a week each in Australia and NZ. So it should come as no surprise - that is exactly what has happened.
TahDan
Roar Guru
I think a scape goat would be the better analogy. There's nothing threatening about Deans's demeanour; he's a doer. You can tell he just would rather shut up and get on with the job. It's just that the job of coaching the wallabies to the kind of success that Rod Macqueen's incredible team has accustomed the Aus public to expect, is just unrealistic in the ultra-competitive Australian football market in which Rugby gets but a fraction of the talent. Seriously, when your best two 10s are Cooper and Barnes, you know you're struggling for quality.
TahDan
Roar Guru
They should have beat South Africa on the weekend. A draw against the Springboks aint half bad and they also beat England a Twickers a couple years back. Pretty good for a non-top tier nation.