Cheers Uncle Ted!

They say that all good things must come to an end.

After nearly 30 years as a coach of some capacity, Sir Graham Henry will bid farewell to the rugby scene. The 68-year-old who has been the Blues' technical director for the last two seasons, guiding head coach, John Kirwan, will step away from the coaches' box into retirement.

Uncle Ted's record speaks for itself. Having started out as coach of Kelston Boys and Auckland Grammar
rugby teams, Uncle Ted took over as coach of the successful Auckland side of the 1980s and early 1990s and then the Blues when rugby turned professional in 1996.

With the New Zealand rugby union not offering him the head coaching role at the All Blacks, Uncle Ted moved to Wales to become head coach there, laying the platform for their regeneration as a respectable international side.

He controversially took the role as British & Irish Lions coach when they toured Australia in 2001, thus becoming the first foreigner to coach the side. The series left a bitter taste for British rugby fans as they lost a series for the first time ever against the Wallabies, and Henry quickly returned to New Zealand to become coach of the Blues.

As he did back in the late 90s, Uncle Ted guided the Blues to Super 12 success in 2003 before the All Blacks came calling.

We all know what he did with the All Blacks, the highs and lows he experienced - the highs being, a 3-0 thumping of the Lions, 3 Grand Slam successes and of course, the Rugby World Cup success in 2011, and the lows being that shock quarterfinal exit at the hands of France in the 2007 Rugby World Cup and that thumping by the Wallabies in Sydney in 2008 at the hands of Robbie Deans, the man that everyone wanted for the head coach role after that ignominious 2007 exit.

Through it all, Uncle Ted stood firm and stoic and helped to reaffirm the All Blacks as the number one international rugby team in the world - probably the number one international side in any sport particularly considering Brazil's recent demise as a football superpower. Not only that, he reinstilled a better culture in the All Blacks dressing room.

Previous AB sides had failed on the big stage because they were afraid to fail. Ted removed that fear and created a dare-to-fail culture which allowed young players with no caps to enter the All Blacks environment and blossom straight away - Hansen's recent success is all down to Uncle Ted.

Moreover, he restored mana and pride to play for the silver fern.

One of the greatest rugby coaches ever at least, if not the greatest.

Uncle Ted, you'll be missed. Now get out there and enjoy the spare time with Raewyn and the grandkids.

And unlike Marmite, please don't come back :-)