All Blacks' secret tactics revealed

Graham Henry with his game plan yesterday. Photo / Getty Images

Call it espionage or call it downright cheeky - but the All Blacks' moves have been taken from under coach Graham Henry's nose.

An Australian photographer from the Getty Images agency snapped Henry holding his tactical notes during a training session at a Melbourne school yesterday.

The agency issued a close-up shot of the notes, which reveal lineout and scrum moves before this weekend's Bledisloe Cup test.

The photo is available through Gettys' international media service and at least two Australian newspapers - Melbourne's Herald Sun and Sydney's Daily Telegraph - said last night they planned to publish the image today.

The All Blacks and the New Zealand Rugby Union are unhappy about the photograph, although no one was commenting publicly last night.

It is understood the picture will force the All Blacks to change tactics.

Former All Black selector Peter Thorburn told the Herald last night that tactics -or "rugby smarts" - were vital to the game and were usually a closely guarded secret.

"Technical skills can get you the ball, but it's what you do with it that's more crucial than anything else."

At a national level, basic skills were "a given", so it was what players did with the ball to "out-manoeuvre and manipulate" the opposition that was important.

Coaches kept their tactics and game plans close to their chests, but Thorburn said "teams have gone to all sorts of lengths to steal a march before".

He'd heard claims of training sessions being videotaped from inside the stadiums and watched with telephoto lenses - even talk of hotel rooms being bugged.

"There's always been that [talk] ... Some coaches can be quite paranoid."

As important as the game plans were, Thorburn doubted the Wallabies or anyone else would benefit from the leak, even if the hand-drawn game plans shown in the photo were legitimate.

And he said he wouldn't be surprised if they were fake.

"Ted [Henry] is pretty cynical, with a good sense of humour. If he didn't want it out I don't think it would get out."

Even if it was legitimate, its usefulness would be in question because the opposition wouldn't know if it or a Plan B was going to be used.

Former Wellington coach and All Black captain Graham Mourie also thought Henry might have the last laugh.

Mourie said that knowing the attention Henry paid to detail it wouldn't be surprising if he knew the game plan had slipped out.

After the Herald made inquiries about the image last night, Getty withdrew it, but it was later reinstated.

An All Blacks representative is understood to have made contact with a Getty staff member to inquire about the image, but the agency was adamant the team had not tried to have it withdrawn.