Rugby: Blues downgrade stars, upgrade captaincy

Jerome Kaino. Photo / Getty Images.

All Black loose forward Jerome Kaino will be the third captain in the three years of coach John Kirwan's tenure as the Blues look for a spark to change their ongoing lack of success.

"Jerome brings everything you want in a captain - leadership on the field, leadership off the field. He is also an X Factor player. As a team we want to be resilient and relentless and Jerome is that sort of player," Kirwan said.

Kaino replaces Braid who is returning to work after shoulder surgery and will continue to be part of the leadership group.

The Blues have shed the much touted but eventually fitful inside back combination of Piri Weepu, Benji Marshall and Ma'a Nonu to offshore, rugby league and the Hurricanes.

The highest profile replacement is former All Black halfback Jimmy Cowan while steady Super 15 lock Josh Bekhuis has transferred north, Dan Bowden has returned to midfield and exciting wing Ben Lam has been introduced.

Cowan returns after three years in the English premiership while Bekhuis collected 81 caps with the Highlanders. Fellow Lock Culum Retallick and NZ under 20 loosie Joe Edwards return after their seasons were blighted by injury.

The Blues have named a 38-strong team with twenty-nine players are from within the Blues region.

A new face in the backs is IITM Cup midfielder Hamish Northcott from Manawatu while All Blacks Sevens talent, Lam, the big, fast-stepping winger who was in the winning World Sevens and the Commonwealth Games teams, has his chance at the 15-aside game after an injury-plagued 2014 season.

The cornerstone of the Blues will be the pack that includes six All Blacks - Keven Mealamu, Tony Woodcock, Jerome Kaino, Charlie Faumuina, Patrick Tuipulotu and Steven Luatua who boast 325 Test caps between them.

"I am happy with the balance of the squad between the All Blacks, a group of players who now have experience to understand what Super Rugby demands and some young players that we need to nurture for the future of our team," Kirwan said.

"As an organisation we are just a year old and have a much more settled front and back office with a discernible plan from which we can build.

"Where possible we've looked inside this Blues area for our players especially for our developing young players.

"That said we've got some excellent new signings like Bekhuis, Cowan and Northcott."

Kirwan is clear about his goals for the team this year, which will be measured by performance on and off the field.

"We will see success measured around more consistency, the players playing for each other, for our sponsors and our fans, and making our people proud of the way they play.

"Everyone talks about where we finish in the competition ladder. But we need to focus on getting those core things right and then the results will look after themselves.

"Obviously we all want to win. We want to create sustained success and to do that all the pillars of the organisation have to be in order and we are getting those in place.

"Our philosophy as a team in 2015 is to be relentless, uncompromising and hard-working. That's probably an ideal description for the likes of Kaino, Braid, Cowan and Keven Mealamu and I think all our players want to aspire to that."

The 2015 Blues squad is:

Forwards: Josh Bekhuis (Southland), Luke Braid (Auckland), Joe Edwards (Auckland), Charlie Faumuina (Auckland), Blake Gibson (Auckland), Jerome Kaino (Auckland, captain), Will Lloyd (Auckland), Steven Luatua (Auckland), Keven Mealamu (Auckland), Matt Moulds (Northland), Brendon O'Connor (Hawkes Bay), James Parsons (Northland), Greg Pleasants-Tate (North Harbour), Sam Prattley (Auckland), Culum Retallick (Bay of Plenty), Peter Saili (Auckland), Angus Ta'avao (Taranaki), Hayden Triggs (North Harbour), Patrick Tuipulotu (Auckland), Ofa Tu'ungafasi (Auckland), Tony Woodcock (North Harbour).

Backs: Pita Ahki (North Harbour), Dan Bowden (Northland), Jimmy Cowan (Tasman), Jamison Gibson-Park (Taranaki), Frank Halai (Counties Manukau), Bryn Hall (North Harbour), Simon Hickey (Auckland), Ben Lam (Auckland), Tevita Li (North Harbour), George Moala (Auckland), Melani Nanai (Auckland), Hamish Northcott (Manawatu), Charles Piutau (Auckland), Francis Saili (Auckland), Matt Vaega (North Harbour), Lolagi Visinia (Auckland), Ihia West (Hawkes Bay).