Lam upfront on priorities

By CHRIS RATTUE

New Auckland coach Pat Lam has emphasised the importance of getting the "core" forward game right, and says it will be central to his plans for the reigning NPC champions and Ranfurly Shield holders.

In a "back to the future" approach, Lam - whose career blossomed in England - said concentrating on aspects such as set pieces was vital even in an age where the entertainment factor had to be respected.

Lam, an important if not central figure in some fine Auckland teams of the early 1990s, was revealed as the province's new coach at Eden Park yesterday.

The 35-year-old former loose forward has signed a two-year contract replacing new All Blacks coach Graham Henry, who had been lined up to take over at Auckland after Wayne Pivac departed. Lam has yet to name an assistant.

The ever-popular Lam's coaching career has evolved with rare smoothness. He made a seamless transition from player to coach in Britain, where he established a stellar reputation as a player and tactician. He captained Northampton and Newcastle to major titles, which led to his assisting Scotland coach Ian McGeechan, including a role at last year's World Cup.

He now faces his biggest coaching test in following on from the Pivac/Grant Fox regime. Under their reign Auckland snared three NPC titles in five years, including the last two.

Over the past year Lam travelled six times to Scotland from his home in Pukekohe, leaving his wife Steph and their four children behind, but he had decided this jet-set coaching arrangement would come to an end before the Auckland job became available.

Lam was a leader in teams from a young age, captaining the New Zealand Colts and Schools, but was less dominant in a power-packed Auckland side in the first half of the 1990s where Zinzan Brooke and Sean Fitzpatrick were central characters.

But his star shone with Manu Samoa and in the English club scene, and he was named European player of the year in 2000 when Northampton won the European Cup - still its only trophy in 130 years. Lam retired from playing in 2002.

His Auckland appointment is another step in a remarkably diverse career which has included three World Cup campaigns for Samoa, including two as captain, and a brief but unlucky stint in the All Blacks.

Lam was a late replacement in the 1992 side which suffered an infamous defeat against Sydney, and Lam did not even last the game because of broken ribs.

He enters coaching in this country when England's World Cup success has thrown an even stronger spotlight on weaknesses in the forward game here.

Lam said the key to modern coaching was preparing teams that could adapt to any style or opponent, but there was no doubt that the core forward game in this country needed improvement.

"At the end of the day it is the forwards who win you games ... for instance the lineout in New Zealand has been taken for granted.

"In England the forwards are happy to do their own jobs and know that will lead to any bonuses.

"They have the attitude that 'this is my job and if I don't do it, I won't continue to be here.'

"They get the same sort of buzz from hitting a ruck hard as from scoring a try."

Auckland chief executive David White described Lam as the outstanding candidate among 24 applicants, and that McGeechan had given him a "glowing reference".

Lam said: "When David told me I had the job it was like the first time I got selected for Samoa and the All Blacks. I'm a New Zealand-born Samoan who is proud to be Samoan, proud to be a Kiwi, and especially proud to be an Aucklander."

CV

Name: Pat Lam

Clubs: Marist, Northampton, Newcastle

Representative: Auckland (30 games), North Harbour (16 games), Crusaders (3 games).

International: NZ Colts, NZ Secondary Schools, NZ Sevens, All Blacks (1 game), Samoa (35 tests), Barbarians.

Coaching: Scotland assistant.