Mark Keown

I heard Graham Henry claim on TV3 last night that he has not heard any criticism in Christchurch. Well I am sure he doesn't read this, but here is some; Dear Graham, Until last year I was your greatest fan. I believed you to be one of the truly great coaches of all time and modern era. I forgave your Lions loss as I think you were on a hiding to nothing. However, you lost the plot last year! I criticise your coaching for these reasons: 1. You should not have taken the AB's out of the Super 14 in 2007. 2. You should have retained the same combination through 2008 apart from one or two of the weaker opponents to enforce combinations and match hardness. 3. You should have organised some pre-World Cup matches in Europe against the big guns in preparation. 4. You should have played the A team throughout the World Cup. 5. You should have picked Mauger, Jack, Howlett in the 22 for the quarter final. 6. You should have resigned on return from the World Cup. 7. You should not continue y...

The latest AB selection illustrates why the AB's struggle when the heat is on. The switch of Smith and Kahui, the addition of Thompson for Kaino and the addition of Wolf are all mistakes to me. Here we had the opportunity to cement a combination. Nonu and Smith have been in and out over the years and the chance was there to have a third match in a row to continue to develop confidence and combinations. Yet, Henry makes the change again. I think this is wrong. They should have stuck to the A team. Why: 1. It disrupts combinations at a time when these people are all growing in confidence and getting into the rhythm of playing. 2. There is no need for rotation. Injuries are certain to come to players and rotation will come around naturally and there is no need to do this. 3. The interchange rules mean that players can be rotated during games when games are won while retaining combinations. 4. Rotation means that people get caps too easily. This cheapens the AB jersey and enhances the ...

Christians agree that the Spirit is the third person of the trinity and that the Spirit indwells believers. However, they differ on their view of the Spirit. The common ground is that the one God is expressed in three eternal persons including the Spirit. They believe that the Spirit was active in creation, and that the Spirit is involved in the animation of all natural life, sustaining creation and providence. They believe that the Spirit is at work in conversion, convicting of sin (Jn 16:8-11). They differ on the role of the Spirit in conversion. Some believe that the Spirit causes a person to be saved through irresistable grace. Some believe that this is God's sovereign choice alone and human response is not a factor in conversion. Some believe the Spirit works in the sense of 'prevenient grace' causing all to have the opportunity to be saved. However, human freedom or volition means that some resist the Spirit and salvation and are not reconciled to God. Some believe th...

Rattue's column in the herald is right on the button ( http://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/story.cfm?c_id=476&objectid=10513842 ). He has put into words what I feel. I was asked by my father-in-law who I thought would win in the Irish-NZ test this weekend and I said I don't care. This stunned me. Why? Because it is the first time in my 46 year life that I don't care who wins. Why don't I care? I don't care because I realise that this tests means diddly squat. Why? Because it is not a world cup game and the only chance of redemption for this All Black team and Graham Henry and his cronnies is the world cup. It goes like this. Rugby have chosen to make the world cup the only thing that matters. NZ has played into this totally. Everything for four years will now go to finding a team that can be unbeaten over 4 weeks in 2011. By this rugby structure, what was the pearl of the game, international rugby, is now merely a time to build for this. This means that it is inevit...