Rugby: Henry joins IRB rugby committee

Sir Graham Henry. Photo / Doug Sherring

The International Rugby Board has announced that Sir Graham Henry, New Zealand's rugby World Cup-winning coach, has joined the governing body's rugby committee.

Henry, widely renowned as one of the finest coaches of his generation and one of the most successful coaches of the professional era, coached the All Blacks to five Tri-Nations titles as well as victory on home soil last year, and was named IRB coach of the year five times between 2004 and 2011.

The New Zealander accepted the invitation by the IRB Council and replaces another World Cup-winning winning coach in South Africa's Jake White on the committee, which is chaired by former New Zealand captain Graham Mourie.

White has stepped down owing to his Super Rugby coaching commitments.

Henry is already looking forward to making a contribution to the IRB Rugby Committee and playing his part in assisting the ongoing development and growth of the game around the world.

"It is a massive honour for me to be asked by the IRB Council to join the IRB Rugby Committee. Rugby is a sport that is constantly evolving on and off the field and with that come challenges. As a coach I have experienced the evolution first hand. I am now looking forward to using my experience to continue to contribute to the Game through the IRB Rugby Committee," Henry said.

The IRB Rugby Committee comprises IRB Council Members Graham Mourie (New Zealand, chairman), Bill Beaumont (England), Giancarlo Dondi (Italy), Michael Hawker (Australia), John Jeffrey (Scotland), David Pickering (Wales), Agustin Pichot (Argentina), Koji Tokumasu (Japan), Pat Whelan (Ireland) and Raul Martins (FIRA-AER), player Fabien Pelous (France) and coach Graham Henry (New Zealand).

A further announcement detailing the appointment of a leading former women's international player will be made in the coming days.

The IRB rugby committee is one of three IRB standing committees. The other two are the audit and risk committee and the regulations committee.