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Final Word
After the All Blacks crashed out of the 2007 World Cup, humiliatingly at the quarter-final stage, Graham Henry thought his time as an international rugby coach was up. The NZRU had never reappointed a losing World Cup coach and he couldn’t see why they would make an exception for him.
That is, until he began preparing his coach’s report, which involved a detailed analysis of the video of that fateful quarter-final. What he witnessed caused him initially to throw up, then to reassess his future.
What he uncovered would contribute to his reappointment, which was not without controversy. With his faithful coaching partners Wayne Smith and Steve Hansen, he would weather the storm and go on to make the All Blacks the most successful and entertaining team in the world, bringing absolute joy to the ‘stadium of four million’ when they claimed the Rugby World Cup in 2011, for which Graham would be knighted.
How they rebuilt the All Blacks, establishing a leadership group - the Magnificent Seven - developing the players’ mental strength and preparing for a Dan Carter ‘worst case scenario’ makes enthralling reading.
Although Graham can claim to be rugby’s most successful coach, having maintained an almost unbelievable 83 per cent success rate across four decades and more than 550 matches, there were times, remarkably, when he was almost down and out.
He quit the UK in a state of near depression after the Lions tour flop and a 50-point loss by Wales, and he was devastated by events at Cardiff at the 2007 Rugby World Cup. The story of how he rebounded from those traumatic happenings to become the game’s most esteemed coach makes this one of the most gripping sports books ever written.
That is, until he began preparing his coach’s report, which involved a detailed analysis of the video of that fateful quarter-final. What he witnessed caused him initially to throw up, then to reassess his future.
What he uncovered would contribute to his reappointment, which was not without controversy. With his faithful coaching partners Wayne Smith and Steve Hansen, he would weather the storm and go on to make the All Blacks the most successful and entertaining team in the world, bringing absolute joy to the ‘stadium of four million’ when they claimed the Rugby World Cup in 2011, for which Graham would be knighted.
How they rebuilt the All Blacks, establishing a leadership group - the Magnificent Seven - developing the players’ mental strength and preparing for a Dan Carter ‘worst case scenario’ makes enthralling reading.
Although Graham can claim to be rugby’s most successful coach, having maintained an almost unbelievable 83 per cent success rate across four decades and more than 550 matches, there were times, remarkably, when he was almost down and out.
He quit the UK in a state of near depression after the Lions tour flop and a 50-point loss by Wales, and he was devastated by events at Cardiff at the 2007 Rugby World Cup. The story of how he rebounded from those traumatic happenings to become the game’s most esteemed coach makes this one of the most gripping sports books ever written.
- GenresNonfictionBiography
304 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 24, 2025
Amazing leadership and story how All Black raised again.
April 11, 2020
I thorough enjoyed reading this book many years after it was written.
I hadn’t been that keen to read it because the subject appeared to have quite an ego and I thought he was lucky to be reappointed after the stuff up in 2007.
The book is a well written very frank story of a person who has contributed greatly to rugby and New Zealand.
I hadn’t been that keen to read it because the subject appeared to have quite an ego and I thought he was lucky to be reappointed after the stuff up in 2007.
The book is a well written very frank story of a person who has contributed greatly to rugby and New Zealand.
October 10, 2012
Bob Howitt tells us what Graham Henry did but without any real insight into the man himself. The background is mainly chronological and lacks depth and any analysis of what makes Graham Henry so successful. As far as i know I have every New Zealand rugby biography, which means a lot of books by Bob Howitt and this book is typical of his writing. The other thing I found annoying is the repetition of key points. It must say at least 20 times about the ref in the 2007 World Cup quarter final being the reason for the loss. (once I started counting it was 5 times in the last 3 chapters alone) Hey it's interesting in terms of what happened, and some behind the scenes stuff, but it really only scratches the surface of who is Graham Henry.
August 25, 2012
Good read - lacks a little bit of personality (more like an analysis of just game stats sometimes), but great to understand the mentality behind Henrys coaching methods and influence on NZ rugby.
July 4, 2013
Liked that this book was pretty open and didn't seem to hold much back. Kept me very interested.
March 17, 2013
Good read. Incredible info about the 2007 quarter final.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews