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Lancaster has ditched his bad boys and I admire that

World Cup winner Henry is backing England coach over tough stance on discipline

- By CHRIS FOY Rugby Correspond­ent @FoyChris

England have not got any momentum

SIR GRAHAM HENRY is a revered resident in one of auckland’s most exclusive suburbs, just a handful of miles from eden Park where, four years ago in front of their own people, his all Blacks claimed the prize that had been their destiny.

From his distant vantage point, the 69-year-old Kiwi has a clear idea about what awaits Stuart Lancaster in the coming months. Both men were schoolteac­hers and Lancaster will soon follow in henry’s footsteps as head coach of a host nation at the World Cup. he will hope to emulate him by coping with considerab­le pressure to win the Webb ellis Cup.

having observed the englishman’s progress from the far side of the world, since he succeeded Martin Johnson, henry has been impressed.

Recent events have confirmed his belief that Lancaster is handling difficult decisions with aplomb.

henry invited Sportsmail to his home, on the outskirts of New Zealand’s biggest city. It is a vision of immaculate, minimalist chic.

Beyond the terrace at the back are stairs down to a plunge pool, next to the secluded garden. It is a fiveminute walk to a nearby sandy beach. henry is welcoming and at ease, sitting on a sofa in front of a wall bearing a metal sculpture, depicting a map of his country. On a shelf are mementoes from his time in Wales; two Groggs — caricature models of himself and of Scott Gibbs on the charge at Wembley in 1999.

The latter relates to a so- called ‘perfect day’ at the expense of the english, but when he talks, henry offers encouragem­ent to england and their head coach in particular.

‘he’s been impressive,’ he said of Lancaster. ‘he’s set good standards.

‘he hasn’t stood any nonsense, so when people get out of line he doesn’t select them. I think that is a real positive after 2011.

‘I don’t know all the details but I know the surface details, about what happened with Manu Tuilagi and the hooker… dylan hartley (both of whom were left out of the squad on disciplina­ry grounds). Tuilagi is one of england’s better backs so it was a big decision for Lancaster, but he put standards before personalit­ies which is good.

‘I think he will earn the respect of his other players for the decisions he has made, that will rub off on them and the team will play better because of the stand he has taken. I think if you have set standards and a culture for your team it is very important to back it up. If you don’t, you lose respect from the players.’

earlier this week, england prop dan Cole claimed in these pages that the squad in 2011 had ‘let down’ Johnson, adding that the then national manager had ‘taken all the bullets and walked away’. henry worked with Johnson in a coach-captain alliance on the 2001 Lions tour and was saddened by his exit after the last tournament. ‘I assume that Martin expected his players to be mature and make good decisions,’ said henry. ‘ he was probably a wee bit naive because he hadn’t been there before and didn’t know the ropes and they let him down.

‘You can’t take that risk. Stuart Lancaster has had an opportunit­y to learn from what happened in that last tournament. It was chaos, he came in and said, “That is not going to happen on my watch” and he has stayed true to his word.

‘But I was very sorry to see what happened with Martin Johnson. he is a special man and a major reason why england won the World Cup in 2003. I really believe that if they had re-appointed him he would have been an outstandin­g coach.’

Instead, Lancaster was brought in and conducted a root-and-branch overhaul of the england set-up. One of his most notable achievemen­ts to date was presiding over the 38-21 demolition of the world champion all Blacks at Twickenham in december 2012.

With that episode as recent evidence, henry believes that england are one of the few nations who do not have a mental block about confrontin­g the Kiwis. But he added: ‘ The challenge for Lancaster is that his team haven’t really got any momentum.

‘ england haven’t won a Six Nations title since he took over. I know it has been close — just points difference — but it hasn’t quite happened.

‘I think their pack will be really strong. They will be as good as any pack in the competitio­n, I would imagine, but it is just whether the backs are experience­d enough to take advantage of that.

‘George Ford has really added to the way england are playing. he can play in the traffic and play flat but it just depends what game they want to play and I think that is probably a really big decision. do they want to play a forward-dominated territory game or do they want to play a 15-man game? I guess they have fly-halves who can let them play either way.’

In 2011, New Zealand ultimately won the World Cup courtesy of a nervy, unconvinci­ng one-point win over France in the final.

Their experience­s gave substance to the notion that being the hosts can be a double-edged sword, but henry feels it can be a benefit to england. ‘It’s wonderful,’ he said.

‘It’s special to play a World Cup at home where you feel comfortabl­e and you’ve got the nation behind you. If you look at the history of the World Cup, South africa won it at home, New Zealand twice, aus--

tralia played in the final in 2003, England played in the final in 1991 at home.

‘i think it is a huge advantage and i’m sure the English boys will enjoy that. Just going home from time to time plays a part. Embracing the expectatio­n and enjoying the tournament is also a very important part of it.’

For lancaster and his squad the expectatio­n levels they have to contend with took a hit after their loss to France in Paris 12 days ago. Captain Chris robshaw has spoken of the need to restore confidence with a compelling performanc­e and victory in their last warm-up match on Saturday. England’s opponents are ireland and the two home nations could find themselves colliding again in a semi-final next month.

henry said: ‘ireland are the most improved nation in world rugby. Joe Schmidt is probably the best young coach in the world and Paul o’Connell is one of the best captains and most respected players in the world.

‘they also have a very good kicking game so their half-backs are among the most astute navigators in the game. i think they have a good blend.’

Asked if he sees Schmidt as a future coach of the All Blacks, henry added: ‘i hope so. he is a very, very good coach and a fine person. i respect the hell out of him.’

Before his elevation to that exalted post, henry took charge of Wales and won acclaim as the ‘Great redeemer’ before his tenure ended suddenly in 2002 after a record defeat in Dublin.

his view is that Welsh inability to match a country of similar population and rugby zeal — new Zealand — stems from a lack of playing depth and a developmen­t structure.

in henry’s view, Wales will sorely miss their lions centre, Jonathan Davies, at the World Cup and he fears for Warren Gatland’s side if they succumb to further injuries. ‘if you look at that pool logically, Wales will miss out, but hopefully logic doesn’t prevail!’ he said. ‘there is still a question mark about the Welsh scrum and you have to wonder why they don’t score more tries with all that talent. they have so much firepower but they don’t seem to function in attack as well as you would expect.’

Pushed for prediction­s, henry is initially reluctant, aside from declaring that the All Blacks, armed with so much experience in their coaching staff and squad, will be the team to beat.

he argues that any one of seven leading countries could challenge for the trophy before narrowing it down.

‘it appears, if everything goes according to plan — and that is a big “if” — that we could have a north-south final,’ he said.

‘to me, it looks like England-ireland in one semi-final and new Zealand versus Australia or South Africa in the other one. England might play in the final. the reason i say that is home advantage but it would not surprise me if the irish were there.’

if England reach the final, the RFU’s decision to award contracts until the summer of 2020 to lancaster and his assistants would be deemed shrewd business. henry is in favour of such continuity, having clung to his All Blacks job after a quarter-final exit in 2007 and making all the lessons count four years later.

‘i think it is a hell of a good thing,’ he said. ‘i think for most teams who are successful it is down to continuity of people. But i’m sure Stuart lancaster is a realist and he wouldn’t expect to stay on unless they perform well. those coaches know that if they cock it up, there will be an out-clause.’

Such is the volatile existence henry has known and lancaster is now contending with.

Playing in a home World Cup is special

 ?? GETTY IMAGES ?? 2011 winners: Graham Henry, Steve Hansen, Richie McCaw and Dan Carter
GETTY IMAGES 2011 winners: Graham Henry, Steve Hansen, Richie McCaw and Dan Carter
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