Sir Ted back at Eden Park

  • Breaking
  • 01/03/2013

Sir Graham Henry returns to Eden Park for the first time as a coach since the All Blacks won the World Cup final in 2011 with the Blues this weekend.

This time he's an assistant to Blues head coach Sir John Kirwan.

With seven years under his belt with Auckland and four seasons with the Blues, for almost half his professional coaching life Eden Park's been Sir Graham Henry's second home.

“I remember coming back from Wales in 2002 and sitting in the number one stand and thinking 'it's good to be home'. It's got a special place in New Zealand and Auckland rugby,” he says.

It's a place where the All Blacks have won two World Cups, the last under Henry as head coach.

It was a cathartic moment for the country, and after eight years at the helm, for the coach.

“Even though we won 87 percent of our test matches through that period and were considered the best team in the world, you have to actually do the business. So we smashed the French 8-7 in the final,” he says.

“[I’ve] never watched the game. Don't want to. [I] went through a lot of pain.  [I] wondered whether we could live in this country halfway through the second half, whether we could stay here and live here.”

Henry said soon after the final his coaching days were done. But he's back because he loves it and says it keeps him young.

Though it's been 10 years since the Blues won the Super Rugby competition, Henry's confident they'll be champions again.

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source: newshub archive