When Martin Johnson's tenure as England manager ended, some of us suggested the Rugby Football Union should do its utmost to hire Graham Henry on a consultancy basis to help clear the post-World Cup air. For various reasons it never happened but the master coach's scathing eve-of-Six Nations verdict on the English game at least gives us a glimmer of what might have been.
His diagnosis is as frank as it is clear. Sometimes it requires an outsider to deliver home truths effectively and Sir Graham, to give him his new title, has not held back. His description of England as "the world champions of wasting talent" who play "a game based on fear" can hardly be filed under the heading of gentle words of advice. Now Henry has stepped aside as New Zealand coach, having hoisted the Webb Ellis Cup last year, he is free to say what he really thinks.
And who can accuse him of being seriously wrong on any count? He bemoans the wasted legacy of England's 2003 World Cup triumph when they proved able to play a variety of different styles depending on what the occasion demanded. He pinpoints the slow death England continue to suffer through their inability to secure much, if any, quick ball thanks to their recurring failure to inject enough dynamism at the tackle area. He wonders aloud if English sides, at club and international level, are too conservative and lack a basic understanding of what to do at the breakdown to create space for three-quarters. "We want quick ball in New Zealand and so we concentrate on dominating the space beyond the ball carrier. We want our supporting players to get under the opposition and to move them backwards. We flood past the ball to create good possession for our strike runners."
Simple, really. Toby Booth, now London Irish's head coach, once recalled being addressed by Henry at a coaching clinic in Blackheath two decades ago. Someone asked the then-Auckland coach to divulge the secret of successful rugby teams. "Getting over the gain line from first phase," came the curt response. Times, and fashions, change but the essence of Henry's message holds true, regardless of the level at which a team is playing. Hurtle across the advantage line, put the opposing defence on the back foot, create a little bit of chaos. No team in the world is immune to such pressure, particularly if it is cleverly applied.
Stuart Lancaster, of course, knows all this. He and Henry, one suspects, would have a lot in common: former schoolteachers, perceptive thinkers about the game, never content to rely on muscularity or defensive solidity alone. Lancaster cannot be expected to transform England's entire outlook in the space of a few days but he is having a jolly good stab at it: focussing minds, improving the culture of the squad and trying to persuade more players to perform for England as they do for their clubs.
But what if Henry is correct and the way many English clubs play is repeatedly undermining the national cause? How can any coach, temporary or not, expect to effect lasting improvements at Test level? "Saracens are England's leading qualifiers in the Heineken Cup but few expect them to win the competition with a game that is as petrified as England's efforts at the World Cup," snorts Henry. "A generation of promising backs are dying on their feet." Aside from Ben Foden and Chris Ashton, he also reckons Ben Youngs, Charlie Hodgson and Manu Tuilagi have the ability to prosper but only if they are given some decent ball to work with.
Maybe if he had watched Gloucester's vibrant Heineken Cup win over Toulouse he might have been slightly less harsh. Maybe Lancaster has been preaching from precisely the same gospel over the past week. Maybe the weekend weather in Scotland will render all but the basics redundant. By and large, though, Henry's words have a disturbing ring of truth. All that remains is for Lancaster's players to read and digest them, lay down their iPads and prove him gloriously out of date.
*Graham Henry is a coach and writer for The Rugby Site, an online provider of world-class rugby coaching videos, dedicated to growing the skills and knowledge of coaches and players. Get inside the game and visit www.therugbysite.com to learn from his regular blogs and coaching masterclasses. Richie McCaw, Gregor Townsend, Dan Carter and Wayne Smith are also members of the growing Rugby Site team with some big British and European names to be announced in the coming days.
