Charlie’s Rebrands As Henry’s To Honour Kiwi Legend
- To celebrate its sponsorship of The Black Clash, which takes place this week, Charlie’s has been renamed after Team Rugby coach Sir Graham Henry
- Henry, one of the most successful rugby coaches New Zealand has ever seen, was a first-class cricket player in his day
- His refreshingly honest take on this is that he was “tickled” by the request to use the Henry’s name as he comes out of retirement to coach Team Rugby and says he’s “here to win!”
NZ’s favourite drinks brand Charlie’s has changed its name to Henry’s to celebrate rugby legend Sir Graham Henry. The special limited edition bottles are only available at The Black Clash, which takes place on Friday at Hagley Oval in Christchurch.
Sir Graham Henry, who is coaching Team Rugby, which Charlie’s is sponsoring, says he is delighted to be honoured in this way. “Charlie's is a Kiwi classic so I was tickled when they approached me to ask if they could use the Henry's name. I hope to see fans at the game cheering on Team Rugby while enjoying a bottle of the refreshingly honest juice they know and love. I don’t know why they called it Charlie’s in the first place."
Henry’s contains a record number of wins, with last minute victories snatched from the jaws of defeat and the blood, sweat and tears of world cup success. Oh and freshly squeezed orange juice made from real oranges and not from concentrate with no added sugar or preservatives.
Sir Graham Henry, 76, is one of the most successful rugby coaches New Zealand has ever seen, winning 88 out of 103 tests, garnering him World Coach of the Year five times. Across his distinguished career, he’s also coached Wales, the British and Irish Lions and Auckland. He played first-class cricket for Canterbury and Otago before becoming a school teacher and then a headmaster. He retired in 2022 to spend more time “fishing and gardening, and drinking good red wine with quality people.”
However, any thoughts of retirement seem a long way from the mind of the man who won the World Cup with both the All Blacks and more recently with The Black Ferns as Henry has once again assembled a team of top rugby talent for the T20 game. Captain Kieran Read will be joined by greats including Richie McCaw, Jordie Barrett, Will Jordan, Israel Dagg, Jason Spice and Ruben Love.
Sir Graham Henry says, “I am here to win. Team Rugby have won two and lost two at Black Clash games so far so this is a decider of sorts. And I hate losing.”
Charlie’s, which goes by the strapline of refreshingly honest, has a proud rugby heritage after being founded in 1999 by ex All Black Marc Ellis. The range of drinks includes Honest Squeezed juice, Old Fashioned Quenchers, Super Smoothies, Kids Juice Drinks, Honest Cola and Honest Fizz sodas. They are made from real fruits and real ingredients, and never from concentrate.