Rugby: The tough bugger

Joseph's hardman ethos and emphasis on accountability has resonated with his players. Photo / Getty Images

Jamie Joseph probably didn't reach his full potential as an All Black, being lured to play in Japan at just 26, but he looks certain to fulfil it as a coach.

The 41-year-old has an impressive record over a short coaching career. Helping Wellington lift the Ranfurly Shield and guiding New Zealand Maori to an unbeaten run in their centenary year was notable but the work he has done in Highlanders' country is by far his biggest achievement to date.

He has taken a team that has struggled terribly since 2002 to the verge of an unlikely playoffs position. He has energised a rugby province and region that had been atrophying; revitalising players who had fallen into listlessness; and honing the skills of others. He might be new to the Super Rugby coaching ranks but he has jumped ahead of many of his contemporaries and surely looms as a future All Blacks coach.

The Southern Man concept might be a little outdated but it's alive in Highlander rugby. It is, essentially, what Joseph has reintroduced to the franchise. It has helped immensely that he once played for, and understands, the region and its fanbase.

"One of the first things he did - and it was about the first thing he said to me - was that the Highlanders had to get back to the Otago way, or the southern way of doing things," says former Otago and All Blacks coach Laurie Mains, who has acted as a sounding board for Joseph since he was appointed Highlanders coach.

"When he was choosing players, he wanted players who would buy into that thinking. You see it coming through all the time. The Otago way was accepting that you're underdogs, accepting you're not going to have the talent of the opposition and you have to give everything for the team. It means being what Jamie would describe as a good bugger."

Most would describe Joseph as a tough bugger. He was uncompromising as a player, occasionally falling foul of the rugby judicial authorities, but he was also intelligent and immensely competitive. Mains recalls him as a dedicated player striving to improve himself.

It has translated into his coaching style. He has an able assistant in Southland coach Simon Culhane. They make a good team but Joseph is the boss. He is clear about the rules and players are left with little doubt about what will happen if they break them. Robbie Robinson found this out when he got into an early morning scuffle and needed to be pepper-sprayed by police. He was dropped for the next game.

"I think some players find me demanding, absolutely," Joseph says. "There are expectations that were discussed at the start of the season and agreed to. They are uncompromisable.

"There's accountability in everything we do either on or off the field. Most players find it refreshing because they know where they stand. That's the style that has worked for me and I don't intend to change."

In return for this, Joseph has given the Highlanders a game plan and the belief they can not only compete but also beat the best in the competition. Among their seven wins, they have toppled the Crusaders, Bulls, Hurricanes and Chiefs, and on Friday pushed the Blues in a bonus-point loss. They don't capitulate like they used to and a punishing off-season fitness programme is paying off.

It was a risk for Joseph to take on the Highlanders job after success with Wellington and New Zealand Maori. Failure in Dunedin would have damaged his CV and Joseph clearly has ambition.

"There's more risk taking the Crusaders because of the expectations that go with them," he says. "They have so many more players and the previous coach was so successful. Since Robbie [Deans] left, the team haven't won a championship. That's more of a risk than taking a team that no one expects to do well and get them to where we are."

Even though the Highlanders have a decent run-in, with home games against the Lions and Force and others against a dysfunctional Hurricanes and Waratahs, Joseph believes it will only get harder for his players.

They don't have the depth of other teams in their position on the ladder and they now have to contend with another powerful force - expectations.

"At the start of the season, there were no expectations around the team because no one cared about rugby here any more," he says. "They just hoped we went well. Now it's starting to put more pressure on the players. I am trying to dull that down.

"I don't put ourselves up with the Crusaders or Blues on paper because we are not. We are the Highlanders. We still have the same blokes. The positive thing for us is we get every ounce out of our players and they are playing like their lives depended on it and that's really refreshing. That's what we are about."

That's what Jamie Joseph has always been about.