WELLINGTON: The All Blacks' emphatic northern hemisphere grand slam finally vindicated the controversial move to reappoint coach Graham Henry after last year's World Cup flop, New Zealand press said yesterday.

New Zealand's crushing 32-6 win over England at Twickenham on Saturday rounded off their second Home Nations sweep under Henry in three years, and just the third in their history.

The All Blacks did not concede a single try against Scotland, Ireland, Wales or England, ending the year with a 13-2 record after successfully defending their Tri-Nations and Bledisloe Cup titles.

The performances have silenced loud criticism of the New Zealand Rugby Union's (NZRU) decision to retain Henry as coach despite the World Cup quarter-final loss to France in Cardiff last year, newspapers said.

"The grand slam was an emphatic vindication, not only of Graham Henry but of the men who decided to keep him on after the debacle at Cardiff in the World Cup last year," the New Zealand Herald commented in an editorial.
"It is to the NZRU's credit that they stuck to their guns -- and their man," it said.

"It would have been all too easy to bow to the considerable pressure despite the fact that there was plenty of evidence to justify the conclusion that the traditional approach of sacking the coach after every World Cup failure was wrong."

It seems likely that the All Blacks will remain at or near the top of world rugby until the next World Cup in 2011, the newspaper said, but warned Henry may then face a stiffer challenge.

"The trick will be to convert that ranking into the title of world champions," it said.

"If Graham Henry sticks around to make the attempt and succeeds, the redemption of the 'Great Redeemer' will be complete," it added, referring to Henry's title when he coached Wales.

Dominion Post rugby writer Jim Kayes also used the word "redemption" to describe the All Blacks' season.

"Having survived the fallout of last year's World Cup debacle, All Blacks coach Graham Henry and his team simply had to win, and win they have," Kayes said.

"At the start of the year, 'rugby' was a profanity only bettered, for some, by uttering "Graham" and "Henry" together in a sentence," Kayes said of some bitter All Blacks fans.

"That's changed, or at least it should have by now."