I doubt whether any of the boys read this rag or indeed care too much about what is written but I feel duty bound to acknowledge their spirit and form and the results the All Blacks have achieved this year and indeed last.

Having scanned some of the websites over the last few days, this one off Gwlad was a brilliant analogy from Dai Nasty and matched some of the more pragmatic and sensible posts made in there.

I think that we Welsh rugby fans owe Mr Henry an apology. I remember all the stick he took just before his resignation after the Lansdowne Rd disaster a few years ago. Wales weren't just bad, they were totally bewildered. Their minds were totally scrambled by having to adapt to 'pod systems' and other innovations that he had tried to impose on the 'natural Welsh way of playing rugby'.

Well yesterday all was revealed. This is what you had in mind wasn't it Mr Henry? The game played with skill and speed, accuracy and intelligence, power and ruthlessness. This is what you had in mind for Wales, but alas you did not have the material to work with at the time.

Taking over the All Blacks after leaving Wales must have been like having had the Mondeo confiscated from you only to be presented with the keys to the Ferrari.

Well I for one, congratulate you. I saw the 47-3 performance against France and was braced for the worst yesterday. So I was not too upset or disappointed not to marvel at the sheer brilliance of the side that you have assembled. To use a bit of management-speak - you have raised the bar. Who else can reach it?

Dai

It has to be said that Henry has created or recreated the aura of All Black rugby and their results this season have been breathtaking at times.

Nutting it out against the Aussies who at the time hadn't had to really absorb the dross coaching of Connolly and Johnson.  By the time their methods had sunk in they were struggling against Italy but did come back to whip the Sweaties who equally would have you believe they too are part of the new school of Celtic rugby revival whatever that is.

Beating the English again at Twickenham - heralded then as a renaissance for English rugby because they scored three tries - is still a good result considering the English raise themselves to fever pitch against us.  Sadly they reverted to playing what in the end can only be called gay rugby against the Bokkes.  On that point, I feel a little sympathy for Robinson who last year immediately after the Six Nations said that massive change was necessary in the game in the UK otherwise they'd continue to struggle reconciling club v country issues.  Prophetic words as it turned out but it didn't stop that cretinous clown Jeff Probyn climbing down the throats of the RFU yesterday, lambasting them for delaying Robinson's exit.

I've tracked this situation as best as I can and from what I can see, Robinson's departure was actually driven by the media to a large degree.  The key stages in this started on Sunday with the BBC firstly announcing that due to dialogue with unconfirmed sources, Robinson would resign Monday.  Others swiftly jumped on the bandwagon, as they do here and we all patiently waited for the announcement from the man himself Monday.  And then Tuesday and finally late Wednesday.

What many, if not all, had not realised, is that you cannot simply sack someone in a job without considerable risk, especially in light of the office he held.  To conclude the legalities in the time they did, was admirable in my experience but one cannot help but feel that, daft as he is, Robinson was effectively butt porked over a barrel by the incomparable Francis  Baron, purveyor of all that is bad about English rugby.  That Robinson is gone is less down to his ability than the incompetence of a gatekeeper.

Beating the French though was the highlight for me in the first test though.  The French hadn't learned a thing about 2004 and that game for me marks a watershed in the Kiwi psyche where matches are won with defensive rigidity and lightning counter attack.  It has been in my view, the Achilles heel of all All Black sides especially that which was displayed by Mitchell's side in 2003.  Great on attack though they were, their defense was awful and the real reason why we lost that semi.

Meantime, the Welsh match was the finale for them and provided in many ways a sterner test.  You don't often see sport played this way where perfection is within grasp - Federrer, Woods in his hey day, Team Alinghi, Mike Tyson, Redgrave but this was as good as it gets against a Welsh side, politics aside, who are a very real threat but for talking themselves up and down.  Beating them at the MS was a real achievement considering the the green and yellow Tonka toy could only manage a draw.  Only manage a draw?  This Welsh outfit are no mugs - a little slow in the coaching department maybe and not yet fully alert to all possibilities, but a very good side all the same.

Wales need more exposure to proper sides in my view - they're not getting the level of competition in the North that they need, Ireland aside perhaps, but we should be thankful that their exposure to the Bokkes and ourselves is limited otherwise this fast learning team would be considerably ahead of where they are now.  Christ they must regret hounding Henry out of Wales who by now is having the last laugh.

But for me, I feel a real sense of pride in the return of the All Black legend.  A side who cannot be regarded as anything less than the best side in the world right now. 

Thanks for your efforts lads.  It's been a privilege watching and supporting you.