New Zealand conceived, hosted and won the first Cup in 1987, but defeats in every tournament since then despite dominating the world game in the intervening years has multiplied the pressure on the All Blacks and made their failures successively harder to bear.

Henry and his staff were the first All Blacks coaches to keep their jobs after a World Cup defeat, surprisingly after the 2007 quarterfinals which marked New Zealand’s earliest ever exit. But Henry said on Monday that heeding the lessons of their mistakes and others has been a vital part of their achievement in reaching the final for the first time in 16 years, this Sunday against France.