Rugby: Graham clone touted as ideal All Blacks boss

By CHRIS RATTUE

New Zealand rugby is searching for John Graham mark II to fill the job as the next All Blacks manager.

Rugby boss David Rutherford has held up Graham, who recently stepped down as the manager of a rejuvenated New Zealand cricket side, as the perfect sports manager.

Ironically, Graham is a former All Black captain and will help find the next manager but is not available for the job himself.

Rutherford, the New Zealand Rugby Football Union chief executive, said yesterday that the manager would take on a much more significant role than in the past.

For a start, it will become a full-time appointment - initially for two years which is the term new coaches Wayne Smith and Tony Gilbert have been given.

A staggering 116 applications have gone to the management consulting group Sheffield, who are helping the NZRFU narrow down the field. Sheffield are also still searching for any other candidates who meet the criteria.

Two applicants who will face early elimination are the schoolboys who applied.

"They were tongue-in-cheek applications. I think they were inspired by the seventh former who applied to be the All Black coach," said Rutherford.

The NZRFU wants a strong character who can take some of the workload from the coaches, deal intelligently with media, corporate and public demands, and help set a winning team culture.

Rutherford said: "I think it is well known that John Graham is not seeking the job so I can say this.

"We are looking for the sort of person who can do the sort of job John did with New Zealand cricket.

"I don't think you would find a person in New Zealand cricket who would have anything but praise for the way he did that job.

"He went around and did a very good job quietly but he showed a lot of guts.

"There are so many things you are looking for. In one way you want someone with the practical sense and the business skill of a farmer. You need someone who can bend a No 8 wire and also do the accounts.

"You also want someone with the compassion and discretion of a priest.

"Players need to be able to go and see a manager and sort out issues and know that it will never go anywhere else - not only the outside world but also to the rest of the team.

"And present and previous managers have told me you need to be able to roll up the sleeves sometimes and carry bags and do the odd jobs."

Rutherford said whereas someone like previous manager Mike Banks had a range of other business interests, the new manager would have to devote the majority of his time to the job, although there would be "some flexibility."

The job description was now in line with what many people, including John Hart, saw as the manager's role, he said.

"It will be a much more influential role," said Rutherford.

"We want to meet our obligations to the public but we want the coach to get on and coach.

"We don't want the coach to get sidetracked by peripheral issues.''

The NZRFU and Sheffield will narrow the field down to a handful who will go before an interview board almost identical to the one which appointed Smith and Gilbert, probably in late February.

It will include past and present administrators/All Blacks Andy Dalton and Richie Guy, Rutherford, plus Graham and another former All Black captain, Tane Norton. The appointment is expected to be made in mid-March.

The known applicants include ex-All Blacks Andy Leslie and Andy Haden.