Henry apologises after misconduct charge

Sir Graham Henry has issued the public apology
required of him by Sanzar after breaching its
code of conduct with comments he made about
the officiating in the Blues-Crusaders Super
Rugby match on May 18.
Henry on Sunday pleaded guilty to a misconduct
charge levelled by Sanzar after he criticised the
performance of match officials during the Blues'
23-3 loss to the Crusaders in Christchurch.
Henry, who is on the Blues coaching staff as an
assistant for Sir John Kirwan, escaped with a
reprimand and agreed to issue a public apology
following a teleconference with Sanzar's duty
judicial officer Jannie Lubbe.
The Blues issued his apology in a statement
today.
"On Sunday, I accepted that I had breached the
Sanzar Code of Conduct with comments I made
to the media last week following the Blues' game
against the Crusaders," Henry said.
"This statement is an apology to the match
officials who may have taken offence to my
comments and to Sanzar.
"I accept that my comments to the media last
week went beyond that which Sanzar deem
acceptable under the Code of Conduct.
Accordingly, I want to apologise to Sanzar and
to the match officials involved for my
comments, and for any offence they may have
felt, as this was certainly not my intention.
"My intention was to try to respond to media
questions in relation to matters I thought were
important, in an honest but humorous style. I
clearly failed to achieve that and in some
respects, I accept my comments went too far in
criticising the match officials.
"I recognise there is a Sanzar Code of Conduct
to be followed and I will take more care to
adhere to these standards in the future when I
am answering media questions about matters
which both the media, and the fans are
interested to hear from us about."
In the aftermath of the Blues 23-3 loss on May
18, Henry accused the television match official
Keith Brown as being "blind" after a try to Frank
Halai was disallowed and said Crusaders prop
Wyatt Crockett "got away with murder" at scrum
time.
The competition's governing body laid the
charge against the World Cup-winning coach
after reviewing his comments and deciding they
amounted to misconduct under rule 10 of the
Sanzar disciplinary protocols and breached the
Sanzar code of conduct.
Henry was scathing when addressing media at
the Blues headquarters last Tuesday, arguing the
Blues should have been awarded a penalty try
and that Halai definitely scored the five-pointer
ruled out by New Zealand TMO Brown during
the second half at AMI Stadium.
He labelled the no-try decision as "ludicrous"
adding: "It was obvious to me. I don't know,
he's probably a blind TMO is he?"
Henry also said the decision by referee New
Zealand referee Glen Jackson to sinbin lock
Calum Retallick for an intentional knock-down
was unfair - the Crusaders, meanwhile, were
seeking a penalty try which did not eventuate.
Taking into account Henry's "exemplary record
as a rugby coach stretching over 40 years"
Lubbe said the sanctions would amount to a
reprimand and a requirement for Henry to issue
a public apology to Sanzar plus to Jackson and
Brown.