Pensioners Wayne Smith and Sir Graham Henry are proud to have helped lift another New Zealand team into a Rugby World Cup semifinal. And they tell Jim Kayes how a Black Ferns victory could change the players' lives.
Sir Graham Henry has learnt to dance.
Well, sort of. He reckons it is ‘wind assisted’ and that the team boogie after the Black Ferns' big training sessions during the week “isn’t my thing”, but you get the sense he’s loving it.
“It’s been an absolute pleasure being involved because the people are so fantastic,” the former All Blacks coach says after watching the Black Ferns thrash Wales to move on to a World Cup semifinal against France next Saturday.
“They are a delight to be with. They are passionate and very supportive of each other. There’s lots of talking, lots of noise and lots of cuddles,” Henry says, chuckling.
Henry joined the Black Ferns in the wake of Glenn Moore’s resignation as head coach following a critical review of last year’s four defeats to England and France.
“I know Glenn, and I'd offered to analyse the losses for him and I was going to mentor him through the World Cup, but that didn’t happen, for obvious reasons.”
Instead Henry is with his former All Blacks assistant coach, Wayne Smith, who is now the Black Ferns head coach, and scrum guru Mike Cron, who had 16 years with the All Blacks under Henry and Sir Steve Hansen.
Hansen’s daughter, Whitney, is working with Cron on the set pieces and Wes Clarke is the defence coach. The coaching group first came together at Easter.
“Smithy and Crono are two of the best coaches I have ever worked with,” Henry says. “They’re two of the best coaches in the world actually, so these women are extremely fortunate to have that quality of coach with them.
“And their expertise is making a huge difference. What they've done is incredible, really, Whether we're good enough to go all the way is debatable but they've made some impressive improvements.”
The main impediment to the Black Ferns' World Cup success is England, who thrashed them 56-15 and 43-12 last year and are the firm favourites to win the tournament.
They were hugely impressive in their 41-5 thrashing of Australia in appalling conditions on Sunday to book a semifinal against Canada. The England pack, in particular, will give the Black Ferns plenty to think about after they rumbled over the top of Australia to secure England’s 29th consecutive win.
The next obstacle, though, is France, who beat the Black Ferns 29-7 and 38-13 last November and are tipped by most northern experts to face England in the final.
But these are very different Black Ferns to those who were scythed so easily last November. Especially in the pack, as Cron has had a huge impact on the scrum and lineout drive.
In their quarterfinal, the Black Ferns drew two scrum penalties when they were pushing Wales off their own feed and might have got a tighthead. They were also effective in the lineout drive and drives close to the line with replacement hooker Luka Connor scoring twice from close quarters as the Black Ferns crossed for nine tries in their 10th consecutive win.
When the Blacks Ferns get front foot ball - or any ball with a smidgen of space - they have the best attacking backline at the World Cup with daylight a distant second.
And last year’s defeats need some context.
"They were set up for failure to be fair,” Cron told the New Zealand Herald last week.
“They had no games at all for 27 months – not even a warm-up game. In hindsight it's probably good to get the pain out of the way and they learnt a few things on the road. We've managed to get more resources around the girls now and we've had time to get them fitter and more skillful.”
Northland embraced the Black Ferns and the Rugby World Cup over the last fortnight
So the Black Ferns have a decent shot at beating France and if they make the final - who knows? England may be able to smother them but it shapes as a classic contest of styles.
Smith reckons just making the semifinals is special, especially for three fellas who've qualified for their pensions.
“Particularly because of where we've been, and I don’t just mean where the team’s been - where we [the coaches] have been," Smith says.
“I was retired at Waihi Beach, Ted [Henry] has been retired for years and Crono is semi-retired. It is special having them here and it’s great for the other coaches. I feel really fortunate as the head coach to have Wes and Whitney. For Whitney to work with Mike Cron - how good is that for your career?
“We're a nice, tight group. Ted does a lot of analysis and I really appreciate what he does. He's just such a wise head and the girls love him. He’s learnt how to dance and how to hug, he's a positive man and he’s been brilliant.
"We're great mates. He pushes the boundaries now and then but he generally does what he’s told.”
Henry is relaxed about what the next two weeks hold having endured so much World Cup agony and ecstasy with the All Blacks.
He survived as coach after the All Blacks were bundled out of the 2007 World Cup in the quarterfinals by France but they were back facing the haka in the final at Eden Park four years later.
Henry’s wife, Raewyn, missed most of the first half because she was camped in a toilet, throwing up from nerves.
“When you are involved it’s not so bad but for your family, they have no control of what's happening,” Henry says. “And after 2007 I wondered if we could keep living in this country if we didn’t get the result.
"But 2011 changed my life. A one-point win changed my life,” he says of the 8-7 victory in the final. “And what that did for the country and for those involved in the All Blacks was fabulous. These Black Ferns will give it their best shot and you can’t ask for more than that.”
And after that, Smith will happily re-retire to Waihi Beach and Henry will slip back to Waiheke Island.
“I'll go back to fishing and gardening, and drinking good red wine with quality people,” Henry says.
He has a few more dances to do first.
