Dumping of Lam shows hard face of pro rugby

By CHRIS HEWETT Herald correspondent

LONDON - Northampton is too earthy and unpretentious a place to have a Sayonara St, but that has not stopped the Midlanders giving Pat Lam the bum's rush out of town.

The outstanding Samoan forward, who led the team to the Heineken Cup last May, had hoped for - possibly expected - an extension to his three-year contract, which expires at the end of the season. He was mistaken.

"Things move on," said John Steele, Northampton's director of rugby, confirming that those "things" would soon include his senior player.

On the face of it, Lam appeared perfectly serene as he announced his imminent departure.

"Along with my family, who have been made very welcome in Northampton, I am comforted by the knowledge that God has a plan for us," he said. "When one door closes, He will always open another."

For all that, the 32-year-old loose forward was bitterly disappointed at Steele's point-blank refusal to offer him a player-coach's role for next season.

"The decision has come as a shock to me," he acknowledged.

Lam has just recovered from shoulder surgery - "I played for the second XV in a bog the other night, and thoroughly enjoyed myself" - and believes he has a couple of years of active grunt and groan left in him. But he is increasingly turning his attention towards a career in coaching and team management.

He has already had informal talks with unnamed outfits in New Zealand - where he played Super 12 for the Auckland Blues before switching hemispheres in 1996 - and the national hierarchy in Samoa is known to covet his services.

Lam was last season voted player of the year by the Rugby Writers' Club - an award previously won by greats such as Jonah Lomu, Sean Fitzpatrick, David Campese and Tim Horan.

But British rugby has a hold on him, and he is keen to stay involved with it if the right deal appears on the table.

"I respect John's decision; I'm enough of a realist to understand that he has a salary cap to think about, that he wants to bring on some of the younger loose forwards available to him," Lam said.

"I also knew I wouldn't be able to continue on the kind of contract I have at the moment. But I was pretty confident that he would make something available, and I'm disappointed at the way it's turned out.

"In fact, I'd be devastated but for the fact that I'm a Christian and I believe that something good will come out of this.

"I'll play out the rest of the season - that's very important to me, because I want to do things right - and then sit down with my wife and look at all the possibilities. It won't be a question of money, of the price being right; it's the challenge I'm interested in, the vision.

"I have a fair idea of what makes players tick; I've played under Graham Henry and Ian McGeechan, and I've learned from them. My teaching background should stand me in good stead, too. My future is an open book."

Although he is about to lose two other vastly experienced test forwards in Tim Rodber and Garry Pagel, both of whom have opted to call it quits in May, Steele is entirely comfortable with his decision to reject Lam's overtures.

"I have massive respect for the man," he said, "and this wasn't easy. These things never are.

"But I can't say it was the most difficult call I've had to make since I've been here.

"Managing a rugby club is an on-going process: people at the top are displaced by people coming through at the bottom.

"Also, the salary cap is a big factor."

Lam was shunted out of Newcastle 2 1/2 years ago, having just helped them to a first premiership title.

Rugby used to be a hard game with a soft, sentimental centre. Now, it is just a hard game.