These are your rugby headlines on Wednesday, November 9.
Henry calls it a day
Rugby legend Sir Graham Henry has announced he will be retiring from rugby this weekend.
The former Wales, Lions and New Zealand boss revealed overnight he will call it a day after the Black Ferns' Women's World Cup final against England at Eden Park this Saturday. It will officially be the last match of Henry's extraordinary coaching career, which has lasted more than 50 years.
Read more: Shane Williams wants Louis Rees-Zammit to solve Wales' problem position vs Argentina
His spell at the top included four years in charge of Wales, the most famous triumph being Wembley '99 against England when Scott Gibbs scored that never-to-be-forgotten try. Henry then led the Lions in Australia in 2001 before going on to coach New Zealand men in 103 Tests. He won 88 of them with an 85% success rate. Among the victories was the 2011 World Cup final against France on home soil.
Henry has also been involved in rugby at domestic level in recent years and for the last six months has been working also with the Black Ferns in a mentoring role as part of Wayne Smith's coaching team.
At 76, he told TVNZ in the early hours that the time has finally come to step away. “You get to your middle 70s and you’re not on your toes like you used to be, and coaching, you’ve got to be on your toes all the time," he said. "I’m past being on my toes all the time. It’s time to not do it anymore. It’s time to retire from coaching.”
Henry bossed Wales from 1998-2002, helping to revive fortunes and bring pride back in the red jersey after a tortuous period. He kickstarted a spell which saw other Kiwis follow in his footsteps by coaching Wales, with Steve Hansen, Warren Gatland and Wayne Pivac also doing the job. Henry was in charge of New Zealand for seven years from 2004-2011.
Gatland questions England direction
Warren Gatland has questioned the direction in which England are heading a year out from the Rugby World Cup.
Gatland says he doesn't understand the plan or what they are trying to achieve following the surprise 30-29 home defeat to Argentina on Saturday.
Speaking on Lawrence Dallaglio's Evening Standard podcast, the former Wales and Lions coach said: "I'm not too sure [what's wrong with England]. What I always tried to do in Wales, and I found this to be really powerful, was to control the narrative.
"Let people know what you're thinking or what my plan is for the games coming up or the next campaign. I can't see that with England. There's a campaign and then there's a change, and they are going to do this and they're going to do that. I'm looking from the outside and not a hundred per cent sure what the plan is.
"By keeping people informed and letting people know what your plan is, that can be a really powerful message. I'm not sure that has always been the case with England.
"They picked a really big team and they tried to overpower Argentina with the size of the side they picked. Argentina aren't the sort of side that you can do that with because they hang in there. They are not going to beat you by 30 points but they will stay in the arm wrestle and fight for scraps. I'm not sure of the direction they (England) are going in at the moment and what they are actually trying to achieve."
Gatland is in the UK working as a pundit and will once again be part of Amazon Prime Video's coverage of Wales v Argentina on Saturday.
Competition: Win one of four free pairs of tickets to watch Wales v Argentina courtesy of Dove Men+Care
Costelow: My surreal moment
Wales newcomer Sam Costelow says his Wales bow against New Zealand at the Principality Stadium was "pretty surreal".
Costelow came off the bench in the second half for his international debut and admitted he didn't really have time to be nervous, such were the circumstances surrounding his involvement. Leigh Halfpenny's injury meant he was bumped up to the bench.
"I knew in the captain's run," he said. "I wasn't really expecting it, I was just preparing the boys for the Test match and I got the captain's run and Leigh pulled up.
"It was just a case of being on the bench. It was pretty surreal but I learned my role throughout the week anyway so I was pretty good with everything and just took it in my stride.
"I didn't really have time to be nervous which was probably a good thing. I loved it and enjoyed myself. I felt comfortable out there and good and the crowd was awesome and the whole day was amazing.
"I learned about the whole Test week itself, a lot goes into the Test week not just the Saturday.
"It's the kicking extras, tackling, everything and then on the weekend it's about executing and that's probably one of my biggest learnings.
"I am still a youngster and need to keep learning. I wasn't expecting last week and I really appreciate getting on. I need to keep my head down, working hard and take any opportunity as it comes."
No Welsh offers for Biggar
Dan Biggar has told the BBC there was no offer on the table to return to Wales, and even if there was he didn't want to give up the atmosphere and experiences of the Gallagher Premiership.
The Wales fly-half has just signed for French giants Toulon and says he can't wait to walk out at the Stade Mayol, adding that he feels it's difficult to get the same big-match feelings in the URC.
"It feels like in the Premiership that every single game you play on a Saturday afternoon is the only show in town," he said. "In the URC it is difficult when you are playing a team from South Africa or Italy at 7.35pm on a Friday night, it is very difficult to get that real big match occasion."
Japan was another possibility for Biggar but a conversation with his wife swayed his thought process. "I absolutely loved it when we were over there for the World Cup, but my wife made a good point. She said 'are you ready to give up that competitiveness, the occasion every week?' That swayed it and then this offer came in," he added.
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Russell breaks silence on axe
Finn Russell has broken his silence on his strained relationship with Scotland coach Gregor Townsend after his dramatic return to the international fold.
Russell says he hadn't spoken to Townsend since the Six Nations. Initially omitted from Scotland's autumn squad, he has now been called up for the clash against the All Blacks this weekend.
"I hadn’t heard from Gregor since before the summer so I wasn’t too surprised," Russell told the Daily Mail. "It is what it is. It’s rugby, I suppose. I’ll see how it goes this weekend against the All Blacks. If I’m in the (match-day) squad or not I don’t know. We’ll have to wait and see. I haven’t been in the squad for a while so I’m not sure what the vibe is."
He added: " We’ve hardly spoken since the Six Nations and that’s just how it is. We’ve not spoken much at all. We’re all right, I suppose. He’ll have had his reasons so I’m not looking into it too much. There is no point me worrying about anything like that. I can’t control what happens with Scotland.
"There is not much I can do about the Scotland squad or who Gregor picks. That’s not my job. My job is to keep playing well in France. I’m happy doing it so I’ve kept that going. I’m not a coach and I’m not the one picking the team thankfully. I will get back into camp and worry about that then."
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