Henry: 'Appointment was unexpected'

Graham Henry has admitted he did not expect to be re-appointed as New Zealand coach.

Just a day after stating he believed Robbie Deans’ dual role as Crusaders and Australia coach caused no problems, he revealed the Canterbury chief’s bid for the All Blacks job had him worried for his position.

Henry told The New Zealand Herald: “I was the last to be interviewed and after it I thought ’no, it’s not going to happen’.

“I did not think the meeting went that smoothly. I was a bit uptight. It was just a gut feeling I had – I didn’t think I was going to get the job.

“I stood because of the support, but I was never that confident because this is the first time an All Black coach has been re-appointed for longer than four years.

“Robbie Deans was a fine candidate, too, so there was some real competition.”

Henry did express his delight that he had been given the support of the public, despite the hotly-favoured All Blacks exiting last year’s World Cup at the quarter-final stage.

“The public have been outstanding” he added. “I have never known them to be so supportive and I have never had so much obvious support since I began coaching rugby.

“In the airports, streets, at the supermarket – all over the place – that sort of encouragement and from all the NZRU people in Wellington, has been phenomenal.”

Meanwhile, in final warm-up games for the Super 14, the Hurricanes defeated the ACT Brumbies 42-21 at Levin, while the Highlanders scored a surprise win by the same margin over the Blues, who had held a 21-7 half-time lead.