All Blacks: If they're the best, why the wait?

Wayne Smith, Graham Henry and Steve Hansen get another shot at World Cup glory in 2011. Photo / Getty Images

It was a no-brainer. All Black coaches Graham Henry, Wayne Smith and Steve Hansen were the obvious choice for the World Cup in 2011.

After all, who else is there? Robbie Deans, Warren Gatland and lesser prospects like John Plumtree and Vern Cotter have all sought employment overseas. There's Colin Cooper from the Hurricanes and Ian Foster from the Chiefs and those with a thought to the future have raised their eyes hopefully in the direction of Todd Blackadder.

Neither Cooper nor Foster seems to have garnered much support from anywhere. The wretched game plan employed by the Hurricanes in their Super 14 semifinal against the Chiefs this year did Cooper little good; the Chiefs' record 61-17 mauling in the final marred the likeable Foster's best year in a long connection with the franchise; and the Junior All Blacks' success in the Pacific Nations Cup is expected.

The re-appointment was about as predictable as Monday following Sunday. So, then, why did some media reports contain words like "a move likely to re-ignite domestic debate over the team's last World Cup failure and the current direction of the All Blacks?" Is it solely because some in the media are negative, as Henry recently claimed?

Like it or not, the lingering doubt expressed in some media reports - and among some fans - stems from that little hiccup at the 2007 World Cup when Henry's All Blacks recorded the worst New Zealand result ever. Sorry, I'm being negative, I know, but many were outraged at the re-appointment of Henry and co after that debacle and more so when Deans then headed over the Tasman.

Henry maintains the public feedback he gets is universally positive - a statement which overlooks the natural, decent, human inclination, when faced with A Famous Person, to be polite to them even if they might give slightly different opinions later. You can be sure that in living rooms and bars around the country the decision to re-appoint the strategists of 2007 has come under more scrutiny than is evidenced in chance meetings with the public.

As the NZRU points out, Henry has an admirable coaching record since he took over in 2004. He's won 57 out of 66 tests, an 86 per cent winning record, comfortably the best in the world over that period.

Even when you drop the lesser test matches and examine the record against heavyweight opposition - World Cup winners Australia, South Africa, England, plus the Lions and France - the record is still 79 per cent (35 wins, nine losses), still comfortably ahead of the next best; South Africa's 68 per cent for winning 47 tests out of 70 against all comers.

It's impressive stuff and it's probably surly nitpicking using the most finickety of nitpicking pickers to point out that it was the Boks who walked away with The Big One in 2007.

There's just one thing - timing. Why did the NZRU suddenly leap into action with the rubber stamp now? After all, if it was so clear that Ted, Smithy and Shag were the bees knees, how come they hid the bee?

The NZRU made a virtue of saying earlier this year it wasn't going to appoint them - yet.

Those who can read deeper than the ink on last week's press release may look at the working of NZRU minds. If you'll forgive the dripping cynicism, in communications the best time to announce potentially contentious things is when things look at their rosiest - so an announcement after the normally easy start to the season that is the June window was always going to be favourite.

Only things didn't go so well and, in their weakened state, the All Blacks' fortunes in the Tri Nations look more thorny than rosy. So better to get it all out there and done now, rather than wait until after the Tri Nations when Ted, Smithy and Shag's record might not look quite as flash.

Even if I'm wrong and none of that was intended, the NZRU has managed to make it look like it was and to convince a number of fans that the NZRU thinks they're stupid.

How these things are rolled out and the effect on one's image, for want of a better word, can be important and sometimes Henry is not helped by this protective stuff. He's a considerable man, Henry, let him also be considerable at what really turns the fans' heads - results. Announcing the re-appointment in April would have surprised no one and done away with any doubts about stage management.

Over the years, All Black rugby has grown to be great on the back of excellent success records and the pursuit of that excellence. Part of that has been driven by the expectations of the fans and media.

At times unreasonable and demanding, those expectations have helped drive the All Blacks to a position where they feel the public clamour for success. Skippers like Tana Umaga and Sean Fitzpatrick have spoken about it and have said the same thing: it helps them win.

For Henry to occupy the same revered pedestal as those two; to win the united public acclaim to match his winning record; will take two things - (a) World Cup victory in 2011 and (b) a different public image.

His headmasterly bearing and his little bites about negativity serve no purpose except to remind his critics what it is they don't like about him. He doubtless doesn't intend it but it can come across as arrogance.

Only one thing is certain - after 2011, no matter what happens to the All Blacks' hopes then, the new coach will have a new quest: to win a World Cup overseas. New Zealand has never done that and won't have, even after 2011. All the other World Cup winners have.