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Wise heads take on young pretender

Written by Karen Bond
Monday, 03 September 2007
The coaches in Pool C are a well-travelled lot, bringing vast experience and youthful vigour into the mix. Graham Henry The second oldest coach at the IRB Rugby World Cup 2007 behind USA coach Peter Thorburn (NZL), Henry is under pressure to end New Zealand’s 20-year wait to hold aloft the Webb Ellis Cup again. This will be the second world cup for the 61-year-old, Henry having coached Wales to the quarter-finals when they hosted the tournament in 1999. Henry had previously made his mark as a coach with Auckland, guiding the province to four National Provincial Championship titles in a row from 1993-1996 and the Blues to the first two Super 12 titles in 1996 and 1997. In 2001 Henry became the first non-Briton or Irishman to coach the British & Irish Lions on their tour of Australia before returning to Auckland as a technical adviser and then becoming All Blacks coach in June 2004. Frank Hadden A former fly half and full back for Dundee High School Former Pupils and Headingley, Hadden was a teacher at Merchiston Castle School in Edinburgh until 2000 when he became Edinburgh head coach. Hadden was offered a playing contract by Scottish football club Raith Rovers, but chose the oval ball game – otherwise he might not have ultimately replaced Matt Williams (AUS) as Scotland national coach in 2005. Scotland has won nine of Hadden’s 21 Test matches in charge. Pierre Berbizier This will be the second world cup as a coach for Berbizier, the former French scrum half having guided France to the semi finals in 1995. However, it will be his third overall as he scored France's only try in the 29-9 defeat by New Zealand in the 1987 final. The 49-year-old won 56 caps for France between 1981 and 1991, scoring seven tries and captaining his country on 13 occasions, helping them to Five Nations grand slams in 1981 and 1987. He succeeded John Kirwan (NZL) as Italy head coach in June 2005 and guided them to their best ever finish in the Six Nations Championship in 2007 with back-to-back wins over Scotland and Wales. Daniel Santamans The latest Frenchman to coach Romania, Santamans has occupied the role since 2004 and presided over the Oaks' second biggest win in their history, the 97-0 defeat of the Ukraine in Bucharest in March 2005. Santamans, who turns 48 on Tuesday, was a hooker during his playing days, helping Stade Toulousain win the French Championship before acting assistant coach to Guy Noves from 1998 to 2000. Tomaz Morais He may be by far the youngest of the coaches in Pool C – having only turned 37 in April – but Morais is one of the busiest as he also oversees Portugal’s sevens side and is a university lecturer in Lisbon. Morais played for Portugal at every level, but a back injury forced him to retire after 22 Test caps and he turned his attention to coaching. He was appointed as national coach in 2001 when aged 31 and was nominated for the IRB Coach of the Year award three years later. Only hours after returning to Portugal following their historic qualification for Rugby World Cup 2007 with a 24-23 aggregate win over Uruguay, Morais was off to Hong Kong with the national sevens team. !