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Henry to step down

Henry: Facing up to the reality of crashing out of RWC

The New Zealand Rugby Union have announced that they will name a new head coach to replace Graham Henry by the end of the year.

The news comes in the immediate aftermath of the All Blacks' shock World Cup exit at the quarter-final stages to France.

"We will have a new All Blacks coach in place by Christmas," New Zealand Rugby Football Union chairman Jock Hobbs told a news conference on Sunday.

"I take responsibility for this campaign. I don't want to make an immediate reaction."

Hobbs said an independent inquiry would be set up to investigate New Zealand's failure to advance past the quarter-finals for the first time, given that Graham Henry was granted his every wish in preparing for the World Cup.

Henry was quick to defend his strategies, reminding an angry and disappointed public that he had the full backing of the board with his decisions.

"They were the right strategies coming into this World Cup. Everybody agreed they were the right strategies within the group and we worked extremely hard on those strategies and they have been successful in our test match record over a long period of time," Henry said.

"I feel comfortable that I've done everything I can to try to ensure that we have done the best we can as an All Blacks side, so that's for other people to judge really."

In his time Henry had a near perfect record: a clean sweep over the British Lions, a perfect record on European soil, including a Grand Slam tour in 2005, as well as three successful Tri-Nations campaigns. Yet none of that will matter now as he failed to bring home the Webb Ellis trophy.

"Obviously the World Cup's the pinnacle. We gave it our best shot and it wasn't good enough. Those are the facts of the matter; we just have to live with it, accept it and get on," admitted Henry.

"We didn't play as well as we have done in the past and the French played particularly well.

"We are obviously disappointed but also realistic and we understand that the better side won on the day. A lot of credit goes to them."

Henry is 61 and his days as an international coach are over, but he claimed he had given no thought to his future.

"I just feel for the guys. They have put a huge amount of time in preparation for this tournament and I feel for them and the people close to them," he said.

"I don't think it's a time where you think about your future. I'm pretty comfortable at 61 and I don't think I have to worry about it too much, thanks."