Henry to mentor coaches

RUGBY WORLD Cup-winning mentor Sir Graham Henry will coach New Zealand rugby’s top coaches.

Henry, who guided the All Blacks to the Webb Ellis Cup last year, has signed a part-time contract with the New Zealand Rugby Union through to the end of 2013.

His new role will see him mentor the NZRU’s high performance coaches at Super Rugby and ITM Cup level.

“We are delighted to have Sir Graham involved in helping to develop our top coaches and to help them grow to the next level,” says NZRU chief executive Steve Tew.

“He obviously brings a huge wealth of experience – and unparalleled success – after eight years as coach of the All Blacks and his insights will be invaluable for our high performance coaches.”

Henry ended his All Blacks career last year as one of the most successful coaches of all time.

As well as winning the RWC, the 65-year-old coached the All Blacks to 88 wins in 103 tests, a winning percentage of 85.4 percent, won five Tri Nations titles, three Grand Slams and retained the Bledisloe Cup.

Henry was excited by the next step in his rugby coaching career.

“Even going back to my time as a teacher and headmaster, I have been keen to help people grow and develop their skills and to now move into a position of mentoring our leading coaches is something I’m really looking forward to,” he says.

“New Zealand has an outstanding crop of up and coming international coaches and if I can play a small part in helping them develop then I will.”