KEY POINTS:
Roy Asotasi and senior Kiwis met with Gary Kemble in the aftermath of the massacre to Australia to tell them what they expect of him as a coach.
It has been a difficult initiation for the new Kiwis coach and last weekend the Herald on Sunday revealed he had struggled to earn the respect and confidence of some of his players.
While attitudes in the camp have improved markedly over the past 10 days since they arrived in the UK, this morning's result in the first test against Great Britain will go a long way to setting the tone for the rest of the tour.
A win or at least a significantly better performance than the one a fortnight ago will see them gather momentum and confidence. A bad loss could be disheartening.
No one in the Kiwis camp wanted the latter and there have been some robust discussions about what needed to change.
After Kemble had told the players what he thought was wrong in the wake of their 58-0 thrashing by Australia, the senior players addressed their new coach's performance. As NRL players with test experience, albeit limited, they knew what was required and challenged Kemble to challenge them.
"We've had plenty of meetings," Asotasi says with an ironic chuckle, "and they've been really upfront. I think it's the best way to go about it.
"He's told us what he expects of us and the core group have told him what we expect of him. We all come from NRL clubs and are coached by the best and Gary hasn't coached at that level.
"He's new to the job - all of the coaches are new - and it's probably good that he's got this tour so we get to know him and what he wants to achieve before the World Cup.
"He has a lot of pressure on him to do well with the Kiwis and he has a lot of work ahead of him, so do we. He's probably got a lot of ideas and we all need to work together. We all have the same goal, to make the Kiwis great."
In the lead-up to this morning's first test with Great Britain, it appeared they were in a better place to achieve this . Attitudes had improved, trainings were visibly more intense and players had taken on more responsibility, starting with Asotasi.
It's been a difficult period for the 25-year-old since assuming the captaincy on the eve of this year's Anzac test. Not only did he take over from the immensely respected Ruben Wiki, meaning he will continually be compared to the 55-test veteran, but he has also had to endure two heavy defeats to Australia and allegations of sexual misconduct against a handful of team-mates.
There's nothing like being thrown in at the deep end but Asotasi could well have the swimming skills to cope. When he says he wants to be a "great leader", he may not say it forcefully but the point is unambiguous.
Like his predecessor, Asotasi is quietly spoken and economical with words and chooses them carefully.
It took two days for him to find the one Brian McClennan was after when the former Kiwis coach asked him to captain the Kiwis for the Anzac test. The muscular Souths prop had assumed, like many others, that David Kidwell would be offered the job.
"When Bluey asked me it was a shock because I didn't think I was captaincy material," he says.
"I knew I wanted to captain the Kiwis one day but I didn't think it would be so early in my career. I told him that I wanted to think about it first and spoke to a lot of people before deciding that it was an awesome opportunity.
"I was new to the role so I didn't really know what to do. I knew what Ruben did so I tried to emulate that.
"In the end, I probably tried to talk a bit much and be something that I wasn't. I need to be different to Ruben, to be my own man."
His first taste of captaincy prompted Jason Taylor to appoint Asotasi as Souths co-captain with Peter Cusack after Kidwell was injured.
"That got me ready for this tour. I was able to learn the ropes in the NRL. From being co-captain of a club side to captaining your country is a big step, there's more prestige, but I try to do the best I can and hope everyone else follows."
Kemble thinks Asotasi is doing a good job in this regard. The presence last week of the All Golds, and Wiki, Stacey Jones and Nigel Vagana in particular, was a significant boost for Kemble and Asotasi and the pair have also developed a closer relationship that comes from being on tour.
"To start off with we didn't know each other but we are starting to get really close, which is helpful," Kemble said. "We sit down and go through tactics, team selection and off-field issues. He is now maturing into that leader we want him to be and I think he developed even last week by being around those other guys [in the All Golds]. Roy has grown another leg."
Asotasi is not only a key figure on the present tour but he's also going to be a major player in the coming years.
He's still young, has an ideal frame for a modern prop - 184cm and 103kg - and showed a number of times this season he has the ability to play for 80 minutes. He's strong, athletic and muscular and he's the platform on which Souths are building what they hope will be a team to return them to the top.
New Zealand will also rebuild around Asotasi and Kiwi fans will hope the foundations are in place when the World Cup kicks off in 12 months' time.
