Livewire flanker leads from the front

A coach trumpeting his captain's footballing talents? No surprise there.

But equally, there's no doubt Otago's Steve Martin was totally sincere in giving Josh Blackie a five-gun salute going into tomorrow night's Air New Zealand Cup semifinal in Hamilton.

The openside flanker has been in rousing touch this season in Otago's campaign of two distinct stages: five straight wins, four successive losses. Then came the 56-21 belting of North Harbour at Albany in their quarter-final last weekend.

Martin was lavish in his praise of Blackie the footballer, and Blackie the skipper.

"He has set a real standard for himself and openside flankers round the country," Martin said. "His game against Canterbury for the Ranfurly Shield was one of the finest games I've seen by a No 7.

"He was able to do not only his work at the ruck and tackle but shine in the open with his speed. He's led the side brilliantly and lifted his game as well."

Whew. Impressive stuff. Blackie's view of his own contribution this season was more muted, more 'we' than 'I'.

"I've just been playing rugby, basically," the 27-year-old said. "For three or four weeks it wasn't that pleasant. It's never good being in a period where you lose a few games. I wasn't really thinking about my own form, I was thinking how we could be better as a team, and hopefully starting to achieve that."

Blackie is up against Marty Holah tomorrow night in what should be a top-drawer contest. Blackie professes not to ponder too long the merits of his opponents.

"If you place your focus on one player or position you end up getting pretty tunnel-visioned with what you have to do. There's plenty of other things I'll be focusing on rather than my opposite."

The question of who should be Richie McCaw's backup in a highly specialised role within the All Blacks is still open to debate.

Since Graham Henry took over in 2004, in 33 tests, McCaw has started 22, Holah 7, Chris Masoe 3 and Rodney So'oialo 1. Blackie was the Junior All Blacks No 7 this year; Liam Messam and Tanerau Latimer did the job for New Zealand Maori.

We'll find out if Blackie has done enough to get a chance on the end-of-year tour next Sunday.