Alastair Hignell column: Oh, to be a fly on the wall! New Zealand coach Graham Henry was in charge of the British and Irish Lions when they toured Australia in 2001. England manager Martin Johnson was his captain. Now, with one guiding the fortunes of the most intense rugby nation on earth and the other in charge of the richest, they occupy the two most scrutinised jobs in the sport.

When they at last get to compare notes at the end of this weekend's Twickenham encounter between England and New Zealand, the conversation should be riveting.

Physically, they couldn't be more different. Henry is small and dapper, Johnson tall and towering. Both are laconic to the point of terseness and neither suffers fools gladly. Each possesses a razor-sharp rugby brain and unparalleled experience at the sharp end of the sport.

Both have been hailed as a messiah. Indeed, Henry was dubbed the Great Redeemer by the Welsh media when his first attempt at coaching an international side coincided with a stirring revival by the Red Dragon. His second coming, as coach of the All Blacks, was equally ecstatically hailed by his countrymen.

Johnson, too, has been credited with superhuman powers by an English public desperate to relive the triumph of 2003, when the Leicester colossus captained a Sir Clive Woodward-managed England to World Cup victory.

As England's stock plummeted under Woodward's successors, Andy Robinson and Brian Ashton, senior RFU figures jumped aboard a media bandwagon and just less than a year-and-a-half ago, and despite a complete absence of managerial or coaching experience, Johnson was paraded as the man who was going to haul England back to the pinnacle.

Neither have found it anywhere near as easy as their disciples believed. Indeed, Henry was forced to re-apply for his job after the All Blacks were mugged by France in the last World Cup.

Under Johnson, England have lost more games than they have won and the knives, whatever the result this weekend, are out again.

But Henry can console his former skipper that things are so much worse in the Land of the Long White Cloud. He has a win-loss ratio that every other international rugby coach would die for, and yet, when the All Blacks were beaten into second place in the recent Tri-Nations by world champions South Africa, the critics were soon racing to the attack.

What has protected the New Zealander should also protect the Englishman. The World Cup is less than two years away, and it is being staged in New Zealand. The All Blacks haven't lifted the trophy since 1987 when the first World Cup Final was held in Auckland.

Henry is under no illusions that the New Zealand public demand a repeat and he knows his bosses at the New Zealand Rugby Union dare not be accused of rocking the All Black boat in the all too few months before the tournament.

Johnson, too, is likely to be given until 2011 to prove his worth. The RFU grandees were accused of a knee-jerk reaction when they parachuted Johnson into the job in the first place. They won't want to be accused of another if they eject him post-haste.

But Johnson might want to ask Henry about the things a manager can control. The Kiwi has accepted the odd reverse over the last few years as he constantly tweaked at his team, its playing style and its coaching staff. Quietly, if anything can be done quietly in a country where rugby is such big news, he has introduced talented youngsters into the All Black set-up, enabled his core players to get a string of Tests under their belts and kept his key players fresh and fit.

At the same time, he has challenged his team to play in a different way – according to Wales coach Sean Edwards the All Blacks now play a more rigidly controlled kicking-oriented game than they did only a few months ago – and re-divided the coaching reponsibilities he shares with Steve Hansen and Wayne Smith.

Above all, Henry gives the impression of being one step ahead of his critics, of knowing where he wants to go and of being in control of the journey. His players look as if they know what they are doing and why they are doing it. To an increasing number of observers, Johnson and England look the opposite.

For old times' sake, Graham, tell him how it's done.