New Zealand rugby reacted with traditional severity to its World Cup failure when it sacked coach John Mitchell and replaced him with Graham Henry yesterday.
Henry, 57, first applied for the All Blacks job in 1995 but was forced overseas in 1998, having difficult stints with Wales and the British and Irish Lions. He was given a two-year deal yesterday, realizing a longtime ambition.
"My experience I think was a key factor," Henry said Friday. "I have been dreaming about getting this job for 30 years, so I've been trying to plan and get myself right for it."
Henry, a success with the Blues in the early days of Super 12, says he is a better coach now than he was before he left New Zealand.
"I think you change your style, the Welsh experience was huge," Henry said. "I was very much a cup-winning coach. Now I think I am more of a people coach. To keep your job you have to think about results as well so you have to get the balance right."
Mitchell, 38, had an excellent record in two years in charge but was left with no doubt that he was blamed for New Zealand's 22-10 loss to Australia in their World Cup semifinal last month.
He followed Alex Wyllie, Laurie Mains and John Hart, whose All Black coaching careers ended after World Cup failure.
"Clearly I'm disappointed and I congratulate Graham on becoming All Black coach," Mitchell said.
"At the end of the day I've paid the ultimate price for the loss in the World Cup semifinal."
Mitchell said he wanted to coach a New Zealand domestic team but ruled out a future attempt to coach the All Blacks.
"I believe you only coach the All Blacks once in a lifetime and the way I feel at the moment I don't expect to do it again," Mitchell said.
Henry was the first non-Briton to coach the Lions but his short tenure was clouded in controversy. The Lions lost the 2001 series 2-1 against Australia and Henry was widely criticized by his players for his training methods and approach.
Japanese badminton star Chiharu Shida on Tuesday told Chinese fans to “stop stalking” her, adding that she was “very scared” by the unwanted attention. Shida, who won women’s doubles bronze at the Paris Olympics last year, has a strong following in China partly because of her engagement with the local culture. The 27-year-old, currently competing at the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, has been dubbed the “Badminton Goddess” by fans and media. She hit out at some supporters on Tuesday, accusing them in an Instagram post of taking their fandom too far. “Every time we compete in China we always experience the harm
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) have shown the team do not need star power to win trophies and with the French Ligue 1 title won with six games to spare, the French champions would look to finish the season without losing, manager Luis Enrique said on Saturday. A 1-0 victory over Angers SCO at the Parc des Princes helped PSG win their fourth straight Ligue 1 title and a record-extending 13th overall. PSG can still break Nantes’ 30-year-old record of 32 games unbeaten. Although Nantes lost one game en route to the title, no French club has ever gone an entire league
THREES KINGS: The Celtics claimed a piece of league history by setting a new record for the number of threes in a season, ending their game with 1,370 Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun on Friday combined for 65 points as the Houston Rockets halted Oklahoma City’s 11-game winning streak with a statement 125-111 victory. In a potential Western Conference finals preview, the Rockets produced a dominant all-round performance to jolt the top-seeded Thunder’s all-conquering preparations for the post-season. Green finished with 34 points from 11-of-24 shooting, while Turkish big man Sengun made 31 points as second-placed Houston improved to 51-27. Oklahoma City grabbed the lead in the opening minutes of the first quarter, but Houston soon knocked the Thunder out of their stride with a physical approach to move into the
Taiwan’s Lin Yun-ju yesterday lost 2-4 to South Korea’s Lee Sang-su in the men’s singles semi-finals match at the World Table Tennis (WTT) Champions Incheon in South Korea. Lin, the world No. 14, defeated Japan’s Sora Matsushima 4-1 to reach the semi-finals, where he faced unexpectedly stiff competition from the world No. 45 Lee in front of the latter’s home crowd. The match started out even at 4-4, after which Lin pulled ahead to win the first game 11-5. He then lost the second game by the same score. In the third game, Lin blew an 8-5 lead, allowing Lee
RSS