KEY POINTS:
It should be one of the easier decisions the Auckland Rugby Union makes this month.
Make that two decisions.
Applications for the Blues assistant coach role and Auckland head coach closed yesterday. The jobs should, for the time being at least, go to the same man.
Shane Howarth,
assistant to Pat Lam during a successful tenure as Auckland coach that will end after round five of the national championship, is the logical successor.
Howarth knows it, Lam knows it and it's inconceivable the ARU won't know it.
Howarth, who Lam frequently credits as the guiding force behind the tactical acumen that has been a feature of Auckland in recent years, is also the logical choice to serve as the new Blues coach's right hand man.
It isn't a long term solution, with Howarth admitting he couldn't do both roles full time, but it makes a bucket load of sense in the short term.
Neither is taking anything for granted, however.
"That's the ideal scenario but that's not my decision to make," Howarth said yesterday.
"Pat has deserved [the Blues job] and I'd love to think that I'm right to go with him. But the process will look after that and if I'm good enough I'll go with him."
Howarth would also relish the chance to step up to the Auckland head coach role. Having put runs on the board with Auckland, he should be in the position to choose his own path.
"I want to coach at Super 14 level but I also want to head coach, so it is a catch-22 scenario really," he said.
"Probably the best scenario would be being with Pat and then looking after the side when he steps down. I've done it a bit more with Pat being away with Blues interviews and stuff and I've felt comfortable.
"And it is important that we keep the continuity and it would be hard for a coach to come in halfway through a campaign."
The pair have forged a successful partnership but Howarth knows he will have to one day go his own way.
"I'm lucky with Pat. He's a bloody good coach. I've learnt a hell of a lot and I think we've worked well together. There is a time when you have to step out of the shadow but I am not ready to coach a Super 14 side. I believe I am at [national championship] level but I can't do both roles."
Lam said the decision lay with the ARU but it would be a major surprise if it didn't adhere to his wishes.
"They'll go through the process and I'm confident Shane, [forwards coach] Mike Casey and the senior players could carry it through."
