Graham Henry will take an advisory role with the Argentine Rugby team ahead of their participation in the Rugby Championships later this year.
The UAR has signed Henry up as a consultant to assist the mission to improve the Argentine’s coaching and high performance centres.
Henry guided New Zealand to their second World Cup last year and left that role after the tournament to take on new challenges.
UAR president Luis Castillo summed up Argentina’s aims and the way they will go about achieving them. “We must copy the good things (in world rugby). The UAR must continue to train its coaches so they get better and better to face our commitments.” They clearly have ambitions to continue their impressive rise in prominence in the world game.
The Pumas take on New Zealand, Australia Rugby and South Africa in the inaugural Rugby Championship between August 18 and October 6 this year and will be expected to finish bottom of the pile. But with bringing in Henry to develop Argentine coaches the real target will be long term. But don’t right them off just yet. Henry achieved what so many New Zealanders have failed to do since their first World Cup victory in 1987 and with a man such as him in the fold they could turn one or two heads and perhaps pick up a win or two during the tournament.
Manuel Gallindo, head of Argentina’s high performance sub-committee, has set out three key changes that need to be made to improve their national team further.
He aims to get all their coaches signed up in full time capacities, the second was to keep more of their players playing in the Argentine domestic teams and finally they needed someone to come in to bridge the gap with the level of teams they are competing. They will be hoping that Henry can do just that and the other two aims are being worked on too.