So looks like Graham Henry will still be All Black coach for the next couple of years.

I personally think that its a good move keeping the status quo. The knee jerk sackings prevalent from the last few campaigns obviously weren't working - otherwise we wouldnt be repeating this whole process in the first place. Obviously some lessons to be learnt this time round and so long as they are learnt, thats got to be a whole lot better than starting all over again with a new coach.

And whats up with all the fuss over Robbie Deans anyway? Sure he's done well with the Crusaders but are we forgetting he was John Mitchell's assistant for the previous unsuccesful campaign in 03? Anyone who has read Christian Cullen & Tana Umaga's books will know neither of them were very enamoured with Deans as a coach. Cullen in particular mentioned he felt it was really Deans that ran that campaign as opposed to Mitchell. So if thats the case he's fared no better than Henry at international level (unless you're nit picking and argue that a semi final exit is somehow more "succesful" than a quarter final exit).

Seems to me that some people are so keen on putting the boot into Henry that they're clutching at straws when coming up with a replacement. Even if the rotation/recondition policies ultimately didn't work, at least they had the vision and nerve to implement what they thought would work and then run with it.

The irony for detractors of the rotation policy though, is that given all the players that have since left, that very policy may be the only thing that keeps us competitive next year.