Former All Blacks coach Sir Graham Henry has outlined his thoughts on how to make domestic rugby in New Zealand better.
Fifteen years on from coaching the All Blacks to a Rugby World Cup triumph, he’s back in the national set-up after agreeing to be an independent selector on head coach Dave Rennie’s panel, with assistant coach Neil Barnes the other voice.
It is a big swing for the All Blacks, who, under Scott Robertson, operated a different philosophy. In Robertson’s first year in charge, he adopted a convoluted system that allowed all five coaches to select their areas of responsibility, before scrapping that in his second season when he, Scott Hansen and Jason Ryan became the sole selectors.
But for Henry, 79, he said he was honoured to be part of the team, adding he has plenty of respect for Rennie and what he is trying to build.
One of the challenges Henry will face is selecting a squad with many fringe players announcing they will leave at the end of the season, or are rumoured to be leaving.
While it’s not a problem Henry can fix, he has offered a solution to what could keep more players in New Zealand while speaking to Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive on Newstalk ZB.
“I’d widen the number of teams, make them provincially-based because I think there’s real enthusiasm for the game in the provinces,” Henry said. “I think we need to use that enthusiasm.
“Widen the number of teams, keep connecting with Australia because they’re like us, they’re isolated, so we need to work together, and the island countries need to have a team in that competition as well.
“Whether that can get any traction, I’m not sure. But what that does is it gives a lot of opportunity for young players to play at the level below international rugby, so you’re getting a wider base and a wider base to develop.
“If you look at opposite codes, they’ve got a lot more teams in their professional competitions, so a lot more contracts, a lot more young men or young women playing at the level below international football and that may be helpful.”
Henry feels that after 30 years of Super Rugby Pacific with mixed success, something has to change.
“We can’t continue doing what we’re doing, we need to widen our horizons, I think, and make some decisions for the future,” he said.
“Maybe I’ll be lucky enough to be in those discussions because times change and you need to change with the times and keep up with the times and do what’s right for our game in this country, and we haven’t changed much at all over the last 30 years.
“We’ve been playing Super Rugby and that’s been good and maybe we need to look at that pretty seriously and say what is the best we can do going forward. I think you need to put a few heads together and discuss that and I’m sure Steve Lancaster and his team are thinking that way as well.”
Talking to Ryan Bridge TODAY, Henry said he was open to more flexibility in picking former All Blacks returning from overseas contracts – putting them straight into the All Blacks environment over having to play in a domestic competition first.
“Every case is an individual case but greater flexibility than what the current law is for players coming back from overseas. Richie Mo’unga, for example, has played over 50 tests, Brodie Retallick over 100. They’ve done their service, they’ve been great All Blacks and I think there should be flexibility in that case; they’ve gone through the hard yards.
“I think the question of picking people from overseas is a real issue right now and a lot of people are putting a lot of thought into that and what is the best way forward.”
Rennie is expected to reveal his first 34-man squad next month for July’s Nations Cup tests against France, Italy and Ireland.
The first test against France takes place on July 4 against France in Christchurch.
Ben Francis is an Auckland-based reporter for the New Zealand Herald who covers breaking sports news.