Chris Rattue: Why Sir John Kirwan must surely be on his way out

Blues boss Sir John Kirwan is a poor communicator. Photo / Getty Images

Remaining defiant, as a headline screamed, is one thing. Sounding silly is another. The reasonable guess is that under-pressure Blues Super Rugby coach Sir John Kirwan is finished at the Blues, no matter how long his exit plays out. It could make for a bizarre few months.

His comments after the woeful display against the underwhelming Lions reveal one reason why his Blues regime is in terminal turmoil.

Kirwan is a poor communicator who says what he thinks sounds good - his words feel self-obsessed and not authentic. (The other reason for the chaos is that Kirwan is not up to this level of coaching.)

The post-match "celebrations" at Albany in honour of Blues legends Keven Mealamu and Jerome Kaino were agonising. No one knew what to say and (I think) Kaino tried to apologise to the fans. Cringey as it was, this showed welcome humility and realistically reflected the inept Blues effort and their position on the table. What followed was unreal, a bombastic Kirwan pumping up his own tyres.

"I like moments like this," he claimed. Kirwan reckoned "nothing was missing". No one can believe Kirwan likes moments like these, and even winning coaches find things that are missing.

"I've been doing this for a long time," he added, but much of that time has been in rugby backwaters compared with the upper echelons of New Zealand rugby. The macho bravado was most odd, the "men need to stand up - so bring it on" line.

This is for an excitable moment before a season or big game, not after your team played like bozos. Puffing out the chest following a humiliating loss is what a Will Ferrell character would do in a Hollywood spoof.

Self-deprecating wit would be better than boasting "I'm going to be here for a long time".

If Kirwan fluffs those lines, how does he get messages across to players? Not well, is the guess. Players respond to coaches who they feel are on their side - think Wayne Smith - rather than on a personal mission.

The Blues aren't playing as if they are on the same page as a coach who is "confident I'm the right man for the job".

Outrageous success came quickly to Kirwan the player, and he skipped the ground-up approach of coaching club and provincial rugby. He won't have learned much in charge of Japan and Italy relevant to the far superior arena of New Zealand's national game. He has little substance to fall back on.

His term is all but over.