Kaino will be back - Henry

Sir Graham Henry expects Jerome Kaino to return to New Zealand to resurrect his test career in time for the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

In fact the World Cup-winning coach, so often a vocal critic of the lure of the yen, euro and British pound during his All Blacks tenure, supports Kaino's lucrative departure to play in Japan for the next two years, saying the bruising blindside's body wouldn't have handled the rigours of another punishing season without a decent break.

In a wide-ranging interview yesterday ahead of next Wednesday's speaking engagement at Classic Flyers at Mt Maunganui, Sir Graham - who received his knighthood on Thursday from Governor-General Lieutenant-General Sir Jerry Mateparae at Government House - backed Kaino to return in time for the World Cup defence.

"The All Blacks will miss him immensely - he's world class as we saw last year and a big physical presence - but Jerome's at the stage of knowing his own body and this year was going to need some space and time to rehabilitate."

But with the New Zealand rugby landscape hardly littered with players who have slipped offshore for a couple of years, strengthened their bank account and come back to New Zealand to resume a glittering test career (Troy Flavell and Luke McAlister being two of the more prominent examples), why should Kaino be any different?

"Maybe he'll come back strong and play in the next Rugby World Cup or maybe he won't. In his favour is that he's only in Japan for a short amount of time and was going to have to rehabilitate to get his body right anyhow, so this is an ideal way to do it. He won't be being overtaxed and will have a good body ready to play."

Sir Graham revealed he has hardly watched a game of rugby since last year's 8-7 World Cup triumph over the French.

Usually he'd be immersed in game footage at this time of the year, trekking from Koru Club to Koru Club in pursuit of the top Super 15 talent to kick off the season. Now, he's more likely to be found with a beer or glass of wine in hand watching at home, if at all.

"I've seen three games live since the World Cup finished, although there's been a bit more on television. I haven't consciously avoided it but if I'm honest I probably feel as though I've had a bit of saturation, as well as other demands on my time.

"Watching rugby just isn't a priority for me now, and even when I watch it's still through a coach's eyes. I'm thinking how teams can play better and how one team can beat another and I'm still keen on New Zealand teams winning, although those Blues have been a bit disappointing of late, as you'll appreciate."

He is enjoying watching the Chiefs winning, paying tribute to Dave Rennie, Tom Coventry and Wayne Smith for the way they've stripped the game plan back to basics and are confronting opposition teams up front.

"They're a pleasure to watch because it's exactly how rugby should be played. They've got the foundation right and are doing the important things well - getting the ball over the advantage line, getting quick ball at the breakdown and on defence they're superb, as you'd expect with Smithy in charge."

Sir Graham clearly has a soft spot for the Putaruru-raised former All Blacks first-five, who this week shunned a lucrative offer to join the England set-up under Stuart Lancaster to stick with the Chiefs, potentially also leaving the door ajar for a return to the All Blacks' coaching set-up in the future.

Smith cited concern about coaching against the All Blacks and a desire to remain close to his ageing parents in south Waikato as his principal reasons for his decision. Sir Graham wasn't surprised.

"He's an outstanding coach, a top man and the best I have ever coached with. He made the decision his close mates thought he would make, although I'm sure he went through the mental gymnastics of that possibility [of coaching against the All Blacks].

"You can see in the defence of the Chiefs how big an influence he's having so who knows with the All Blacks? He's been involved with the All Blacks more than any other person in history, back as an analyst in'99 when [John] Hart was coaching, as head coach for two years and coaching with me for eight years, not to mention 20-odd [17] tests as a player.

"I'm sure BJ Lochore would give him some competition but there's no other person that's done as much for New Zealand rugby."

As Steve Hansen sorts out his 30-man squad ahead of the first test against the Irish on June 9, Sir Graham did admit to a few pangs at the changes retirement had brought.

"It was the right time, and I won't miss sitting through the last 30 minutes of a World Cup final, but I miss the guys and the management team, because we became good mates and became close.

"When you're doing a job like coaching the All Blacks you have to win and you have to win everything, and I won't miss the pressure that comes with that. I'm still Graham Henry but the difference now is that I just don't have to win anymore."

An Evening with Sir Graham Henry is on Wednesday at 6.15pm at Classic Flyers, with dinner before the coaching guru discusses his leadership style, his career, the All Blacks team and journey through to World Cup victory. There will also be a charity auction to support the Tauranga branch of youth cancer charity CanTeen. VIP and premium tables are sold out but standard tables for 10 are $1150 and single tickets $120.