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Graham Henry has finished his interview for the All Blacks coaching job at rugby headquarters in Wellington.
Henry emerged from the building just before 9pm saying he was happy with the interview, but wouldn't make further comment until the official announcement is made.
The NZRU has said it intends to make a statement tomorrow.
Former All Black coach Laurie Mains feels the job should go to Robbie Deans. Mains told Newstalk ZB's Larry Williams that he stood down after four years out of respect for the All Blacks, and so should Graham Henry. He says coaches can adapt their methods, but because the All Blacks are so important to New Zealand rugby, the selectors and coaches should be refreshed every four years.
Laurie Mains is optimistic that Henry's main rival Robbie Deans will get the job. Mains says there's a groundswell of support around New Zealand for Deans that the board should take into account. He says the only reason he can think of for Henry being given the job is that it would be to justify the board's approval of the programme that Henry led into the World Cup.
Laurie Mains says he is concerned by recent comments by board members that World Cup results will be only one part of their thinking, which contradicts their sentiment for the two years before the World
- Newstalk ZB
Graham Henry cut a stern figure this evening when he turned up at NZRU headquarters to interview for the All Blacks coaching job he has held for the last four years.
Henry's hang-dog countenance was in stark contrast to that of his main challenger Robbie Deans and fellow contenders Colin Cooper and Ian Foster, who were all smiles before and after their interviews.
Foster offered to lend his jacket to members of the media suffering in the freezing Wellington wind but there was no such generosity form Henry, who batted away questions by saying he would not comment until after the interview process had been completed, before heading inside.
The all-new media-friendly Deans, who appears locked in a head to head battle for the post with incumbent Henry, has been criticised in the past for his somewhat terse public persona.
But, sporting a healthy tan from a recent trip to a coaching symposium in Australia, he was all smiles as he answered questions after his interview.
Deans said every stone had been turned over during an interview that included a 20-minute presentation and a lengthy Q&A session.
He said his presentation had been about his desire and technical ability to do the job.
"It's heart and head. I've got a passion for it and I believe I've got something to offer in terms of what I bring to it as well. It doesn't matter what I think though, does it? It's what they [the NZRU board] think that's the priority."

MELBOURNE: Australia has said it expects binding commitments on greenhouse gas emissions cuts to be on the table for both developed and developing nations, an issue over which countries discussing the shape of a future climate pact in the Bali summit are deeply divided.

A powerful coalition of developed countries, which is chaired by Australia and is considered a key swing player at the negotiations, is split on the contentious issue of mandatory national targets for developed countries in any post-Kyoto climate agreement after 2012.

Japan, a key member of the group, has signalled it may be edging towards the position held by the US, which advocates imposing voluntary emissions targets in any post-Kyoto accord. But the EU is adamant that any new deal must contain binding commitments for all signatories to the proposed agreement.

UN Framework Convention on Climate Change executive secretary Yvo de Boer warned that the issue was creating a growing divide between developed and developing countries as the shape of a future deal was discussed.

As the divisions emerged, Australia's newly-appointed Climate Change Minister Penny Wong said the Kevin Rudd government wanted Canberra to provide international leadership in Bali and believed that all participants must commit to binding targets on emission reductions in the post-Kyoto era, according to The Australian newspaper on Wednesday.

"We would expect binding commitments to be on the table for both the developed and developing nations," Wong said on Tuesday. "We recognise this is a global challenge which requires a global solution, and the nations of the world have to come together to find it," she said.

ABU DHABI (Thomson Financial) - The oil market is balanced and there is no need for an increase at Wednesday's OPEC meeting, but all options are on the table, an OPEC delegate based at the cartel headquarters in Vienna told reporters here.

The delegate, who preferred not to be named, said should the cartel choose to hike output, it will not hike by more than 500,000 bpd at most because there is currently oil on the market and no buyers.

'Everyone is offering (oil). There are cargoes and nobody is willing to buy,' he said, adding he does not know what the market would do with an extra 500,000 bpd of oil.

At its last meeting in Vienna, OPEC agreed to hike output by 500,000 bpd, effective Nov 1 this year, however, the increase failed to stop the meteoric rise in prices near 100 usd a barrel.

As a result, OPEC ministers gathering for tomorrow's meeting here have repeatedly stressed that high prices are nothing to do with fundamentals, and that they do not control oil prices.

Rather, it is increased fund buying that has inflated the oil price, while the weakening dollar and geopolitical tensions have also played their part, according to OPEC.

'Market speculators are adding a lot to the (oil) price, about 3-4 usd every day, which is something we haven't seen before,' said the delegate. He added that OPEC is also concerned about a possible recession.

'House prices are collapsing in US ... there is a 40 pct chance, according to Goldman Sachs (nyse: GS - news - people ), for economic an crisis, which means demand for oil will be lower,' he said.

All the same, however, the cartel remains under pressure from consuming nations to hike output in a bid to lower prices and help prevent a recession in the US or globally.

Whether it gives into this pressure one more time remains to be seen, as the cartel's most influential member, Saudi Arabia, has to date stayed tight lipped.

Earlier today, Saudi Arabian oil minister Ali al-Naimi told a group of reporters here that 'all options are open' ahead of tomorrow's meeting in Abu Dhabi.

maytaal.angel@thomson.com

jag/jag

COPYRIGHT

Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.

5:00AM Wednesday December 05, 2007

The New Zealand Rugby Union has appointed a legal heavyweight and a leading sports coach to lead a review into the All Blacks World Cup failure.

Mike Heron, a partner in Auckland law firm Russell McVeagh, and Don Tricker, a coach for Sport and Recreation New Zealand, will begin the review this week and report their findings in April next year.

The terms of reference says that the review is to determine and document the "material learnings, both positive and negative, for the benefit of future campaigns".

Their investigation will include a close look at the controversial conditioning programme and the selection/rotation policy - both of which were criticised during the ill-fated campaign in France.

The pair will be asked to make recommendations for an All Blacks future based on the team leadership and mental preparedness, the management of player welfare and the size of squad before the tournament.

They have also been told to study team management before and during the World Cup and the quality and effectiveness of planning. The Union said last night the review team would be given access to all employees and information necessary.