ONE MOMENT IN TIME

IN 2007 NEW ZEALAND RUGBY MADE WHAT WAS A HUGELY UNPOPULAR DECISION TO RE-APPOINT GRAHAM HENRY AS ALL BLACKS COACH. MANY SAID IT WAS MAD, BUT HISTORY PROVED IT WAS A BOLD AND BRILLIANT CHOICE.

At the time, the decision was branded a disaster. A mad, bad idea. More than half the country wanted the incumbent All

Blacks coaching panel of Graham Henry, Wayne Smith and Steve Hansen to be fired.

That trio had delivered the worst World Cup campaign in All Blacks history at the greatest expense.

So come December 2007 when New Zealand Rugby had to decide whether to reappoint Henry and his team or give the job to the high-flying Robbie Deans who had enjoyed incredible, sustained success at the Crusaders, the majority felt there was only one choice.

Most of the country wanted Henry and his team out because failure could not be rewarded with another term in office. The All Blacks had bombed out in the quarterfinal to France.

But worse than that, they were weak in all the areas they were supposedly going to be strong. They didn't have the mental resilience despite that being an area that had been relentlessly worked on since 2004 when Henry came into the job.

They didn't have a clear idea about their top team, again despite that being something that was identified as a failing of the previous regime and worst of all, having rotated the team selections for the last two years – much to the chagrin of the public – the All Blacks still ended up with a fullback playing centre in a knock-out game of a World Cup.

That was the kicker. At the 1999 World Cup the All Blacks had been criticised for using Christian Cullen, the world's best fullback, at centre. They did the same thing in 2003 when Leon MacDonald ended up swapping No 15 for No 13 and Henry promised the same mistake would not be made on his watch.

And yet, come the quarter-final against France in Cardiff, it was Mils Muliaina, the regular fullback since 2003, who was lining up in the midfield.