Henry rules out England rugby job

Graham Henry ruled out the possibility of replacing Martin Johnson as England manager on Tuesday, saying: "It is time to move on." Henry, who stepped down as New Zealand coach after guiding the All Blacks to World Cup glory on home soil last month, said he had "no desire to coach a team" after overseeing 140 Tests, including spells in charge of Wales and the British and Irish Lions. The Rugby Football Union (RFU), already without a permanent chief executive, suffered another blow last week when Johnson resigned after an ill-disciplined World Cup campaign which saw England beaten in the quarter-finals by France. Henry became the latest senior coach to rule himself out of replacing Johnson, England's 2003 World Cup winning captain, after former South Africa and Italy boss Nick Mallett withdrew from the race. However, Henry has not ruled out working in Europe as an advisor to a team playing in the European Cup -- the continent's premier club competition. "I am contracted to the New Zealand Rugby Union until the end of March. I have no desire to coach a team," Henry said. "I have done 140 Tests and that is probably enough. I have been very privileged," the 65-year-old added. "I just think it is time to move on (from Test rugby). "You never say never but my desire is to live in New Zealand predominantly. "If there is someone who wants me in this part of the world as an advisor, perhaps a Heineken (European) Cup team, I would be interested in looking at that. "That interests me and I like what I see in that competition. "That is not for this particular season but maybe if the occasion arose it could happen next year." Asked what he'd say if the RFU told him to name his price, Henry answered: "I have got enough problems. I need some recovery time." Henry, in London to coach the invitational Barbarians side in their one-off match against Australia at Twickenham on Saturday, said the likelihood of him being involved in Test rugby this time next year was "zero out of 10". Former headmaster Henry began his coaching career with schoolboy and university teams. He made his name at senior level during a highly successful spell with the Auckland Blues where he won back-to-back titles in what was then the Super 12 tournament in 1996 and 1997. Johnson, for all his success as a player, was chosen to replace Brian Ashton as England coach three-and-a-half years ago with no coaching or management experience behind him. Henry stressed again Thursday that even leading coaches need time at Test level, having himself been spared the sack in 2007 by the New Zealand Rugby Union after the All Blacks' shock World Cup quarter-final loss to France. "If a person is a quality coach they learn a lot from their experiences in the job and they get better at it," he said. "I wasn't talking about anyone in particular but too often unions sack people or they are moved when they are going to get better at what they do." Henry, who a decade ago was coach of a Lions side captained by Johnson, added: "That is a general statement. I know Martin Johnson from 2001. He is a hell of a good guy who was inspirational to the team. "My experience was as a coach-captain situation. I can't comment about his coaching. I have only coached against him and those games have always been very competitive. "I was surprised (he resigned)." Henry's announcement would appear to strengthen the chances of Northampton's Jim Mallinder, a former England international, replacing Johnson. But with England due to begin the defence of their Six Nations title in February, the RFU may opt to buy time by installing a caretaker regime featuring some of the current coaching staff.