Former All Blacks coach Graham Henry says he was naive to reveal in a recently published biography that he suspected match-fixing might have been behind his team's shock loss to France in the quarterfinals of the 2007 Rugby World Cup.
Henry told author Bob Howitt that he became physically sick after his analysis of the 20-18 loss in Cardiff showed France did not concede a penalty in the last 60 minutes of the match despite committing a number of penalty offences. He said he briefly considered match-fixing as an explanation before dismissing the idea.
Critics have attacked Henry for raising the match-fixing issue for the first time five years after the match, accusing him of sour grapes or of creating a controversy to sell his book.
AP