Sir Graham to step into new 'coaching the coaches' role

2011 Rugby World Cup-winning coach Sir Graham Henry has a new job in New Zealand rugby - coaching the coaches.

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Henry, who stepped down as the All Blacks Coach following last year's Rugby World Cup victory, has signed a part-time contract with the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) through to the end of 2013 with the aim of helping to develop the NZRU's high performance coaches at Investec Super Rugby and ITM Cup level.

NZRU CEO Steve Tew said: "We are delighted to have Sir Graham involved in helping to develop our top coaches and to help them grow to the next level. He obviously brings a huge wealth of experience – and unparalleled success – after eight years as coach of the All Blacks and his insights will be invaluable for our high performance coaches.”

Sir Graham said he was excited by the next step in his rugby coaching career.

“Even going back to my time as a teacher and headmaster, I have been keen to help people grow and develop their skills and to now move into a position of mentoring our leading coaches is something I’m really looking forward to. New Zealand has an outstanding crop of up and coming international coaches and if I can play a small part in helping them develop then I will.”

Sir Graham finished his All Blacks career as one of the most successful rugby coaches of all time: he coached the All Blacks to 88 wins in 103 Tests for a winning percentage of 85.4 percent. As well as winning Rugby World Cup 2011, the All Blacks have held the Bledisloe Cup every year since 2003, won the Investec Tri Nations five times and achieved three Grand Slams against the Northern Hemisphere Home Unions.