We were wrong!

As our depression set in towards the end of last year's Tri-Nations, we set up a Facebook group - All Black Coaches - Time for a Change. Oh boy; on the evidence of this international season so far, did we ever get THAT one wrong! Ted Henry and his team have transformed the All Blacks this season, helped in no small way by changes to the way the game is refereed, which has played right into the All Blacks' hands.

And we're not the only ones having to don sackcloth and ashes in repentance; we found this piece from Tony Smith of The Press, written BEFORE Saturday night's spanking of Australia - under the headline All Black coaches prove they deserved a chance he opines:

Some of the wisest people in this world abide by the adage that when one is wrong, one should promptly admit it.

The key word is promptly. In my case, promptly must mean three years. That's how long it's taken to become convinced it was wrong to write off Graham Henry and his coaching team after that World Cup quarterfinal calamity in Cardiff.

As depression descended on New Zealand, a massive knee-jerk reaction erupted. And I was the jerk with the wonky knee who called for Henry and his coaching cohorts to quit.

A friend who has coached at international level in the summer sports arena told me I was wrong. All coaches, he insisted, deserve a shot at redemption.

But that's not always been the New Zealand rugby way.

Many of us remained Henry sceptics. Could an oldish dog learn new tricks? Shouldn't we have started with a clean slate? Given the huge weight of public expectation around the All Blacks, would it be impossible for a coaching team to recover from the bitter disappointment of 2007?

Robbie Deans – a better coach than Australia's recent results indicate – may well have also driven the All Blacks to new heights. We will never know. But there is much to admire in the way Henry, Wayne Smith and Steve Hansen have rebuilt their team after the inevitable exodus since the last World Cup.

Indeed. Henry, Smith and Hansen were under immense pressure this time a year ago. They, and the team that they have assembled have answered the critics in the most emphatic manner. Since losing to South Africa in Hamilton last year, the All Blacks have won twelve consecutive test matches, and the six matches this season have been won with flair, with pace and with ease. Could it be that the All Blacks are poised for another great era?

What follows is a slightly lengthier cut-and-paste than we usually cut-and-paste. But we're adding it to our post because it is so reflective of our own opinion. Given that the story was published four days ago, we don't think we're stealing too much of Tony Smith's thunder - read on:

It could be argued that the current All Blacks aren't yet as talented, individually, as the last World Cup group. But they're proving immensely effective as a team with a commendable willingness to work tirelessly for each other.

Just as the New Zealand Rugby Union showed faith in the coaches, the coaches have shown faith in certain players. They persisted with the promise of Kieran Read at No8 and are now reaping the rewards as the former flanker delivers a dynamism and skill set missing in the last-man-down role since the great Zinzan Brooke.

Three years ago, gifted Hurricanes Ma'a Nonu and Piri Weepu were on the All Blacks outer. Few observing the 2006 northern tour will forget Father Ted having his avuncular, heart-to-heart chat with Weepu on a park bench amid the leafy splendour of Stade Francaise's Paris training ground in 2006.

Neither Nonu or Weepu were wanted for the World Cup. Yet, somehow, they were persuaded to stay in New Zealand.

Now, they look much more mature men, on and off the field, in the prime of their careers. All power to the gaffer for giving them another chance.

Older incumbents, Muliaina and Woodcock included, have felt the hot breath of young, hungry hombres like Israel Dagg and Ben Franks on their necks and are all the better for it.

The whole All Blacks management team deserves credit for their careful husbandry of injuries to Nonu and lock Tom Donnelly. So much for match fitness. That pair are playing out of their skins despite a limited diet of top rugby.

Henry, Hansen and Smith are, surely, savvier coaches and man managers now for all the travails of Cardiff. They've had some fortune on their side – the breakdown rule changes suit the All Blacks' style more than they do most major rugby nations. But they have shown their smarts by adapting adroitly to the opportunities on attack the new rules afford.

The All Blacks are playing a breathtaking brand of rugby and drawing back those of us who had become disenchanted at the stop-start, defence-orientated state of the sport.

I feared the Tri-Nations would be a major letdown after the high of watching the All Whites at the football World Cup. But the first three tests were absolute crackers and one suspects the All Blacks are far from their peak yet.

Henry, at 64, is debunking the myth that international sports coaches have a use-by date. There is simply no substitute for experience. Henry has been coaching for 35 years – most of the last decade at international level although he kicked off his career in the schoolyard.

Whilst we have a diverse range of sporting interests, when the rugby season comes, the blood which course through our veins is All Black. We've watched a lot of test rugby over the years, and we are struggling to remember a time when the All Blacks played such consistenly good rugby at such a speed and intensity. The 1987-88 All Blacks were a terrific side, as was the team from 1995 to 1997. It's hard, if not impossible to compare eras, but we reckon that this team is fast developing into the best All Black side of the World Cup era.

Consistency in selection is helping. We wonder if Graham Henry ever lies awake at night haunted by the decision to rotate and rest players in the early part of 2007. It was, quite possibly, the biggest mistake ever made by an All Black coach. Henry seems now to realise that the likes of Richie McCaw and Brad Thorn (to name just two) play best when they are playing week in, week out. McCaw was unbelievably good on Saturday night, and if there is a better 35-year-old than Brad Thorn playing top-level rugby or league, we've yet to see him.

And significantly, the 2010 All Blacks look as if they are enjoying what they are doing. They are animated, they are united and they look like a very happy bunch of blokes. That bodes well for the next 18 months.

So yes; we were wrong about Graham Henry and co, and in a perverse sort of way, we're more than happy to eat our words. RWC 2011 is still a good distance away, but we're feeling a darned sight more optimistic than we were about three months ago. In the meantime, we can but hope that the All Blacks can maintain the standard they've set for themselves this Saturday night in Christchurch.