Henry: I've got enough problems

London: Graham Henry slammed the door on Tuesday on any RFU hopes of enticing the World Cup-winning All Blacks coach into a role as caretaker coach of England, saying: "I've got enough problems."

The 65-year-old is in London to oversee the Barbarians' preparations for Saturday's encounter with Australia at Twickenham, a month after his New Zealand side saw off France 8-7 in a tense final at Eden Park, Auckland, to claim the Webb Ellis Cup for the first time in 24 years.

Henry had already stated that he had no interest in taking over as the long-term successor to Martin Johnson, who resigned as national manager last week, but now he has underlined that even an interim post doesn't appeal.

With the beleaguered union considering the appointment of a temporary coaching panel to take England through the Six Nations, the former Wales and Lions coach would have been a candidate with suitable gravitas.

However, he revealed on Tuesday that, technically, he wouldn't be free to oversee a championship campaign early next year, even if he wanted to.

"I am contracted to the New Zealand Rugby Union until the end of March — that's the first thing," he said. "I can't do it, I am contracted. I've got enough problems. I need recovery time. I have no desire to coach another team, I've done 140 Tests in 12 years and that is probably enough."

Asked, tongue in cheek, if a stint at Twickenham would be therapeutic, he added wryly: "I've been there before . . ."

Henry also suggested that he would not possess the necessary insight to perform an assessment or audit of the England team and operation on behalf of the RFU. "I know nothing about it," he said.

"Look, I've been involved with New Zealand for a long time and you get very focused on what you're doing, you're not really focused on what other people are doing. So, my knowledge of what is happening there [at Twickenham] is very limited."

Decision to quit

Despite confessing that he was taken aback by news of Johnson's decision to quit, Henry added that he couldn't vouch for the former World Cup-winning captain's coaching credentials.

"I know Martin Johnson from 2001 [Lions]," he said. "He was a good guy who was inspirational for the rest of the team.

"But my experience of him was in a coach-captain situation. I can't comment on Martin's coaching because I have never seen him coach. I have only ever coached against him and it's always been very competitive.