Rugby: Honeymoon period over for the Blues

Pat Lam and the Blues finished last year's Super 14 ladder in ninth, but a new season brings a fresh start. Photo / Getty Images

In the final countdown to the latest Super 14 campaign, Pat Lam used a rare break in duties to sneak away for a haircut.

The Blues coach swears it is no superstition. But he is sick of getting ribbed by his kids that he is starting to look like one of the Jackson Five, he does not suit a burgeoning afro and it is too hot to carry any sort of mop.

Job done and scrubbed up, Lam later entertains sponsors, media and the players on the eve of his side's start to this year's competition against the Hurricanes. He is looking more at ease than a year ago when the Blues staggered to a ninth place finish on Lam's first watch.

"Without a doubt," Lam concurs. "I've had that time in charge where I have experienced what it is like to travel with a team to play the Bulls in Pretoria, to play men like Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha in that environment, while I know what is needed at New Plymouth or Eden Park.

"They are all reference points and you take those experiences and say 'we have got to do some work here or in other areas'. They all teach you something.

"They tell you lots about players, those who adapt, those who can deal with a variety of circumstances in what is a marathon competition rather than a sprint."

After a playing career with Auckland, the All Blacks and Samoa, Lam cut his coaching teeth with Scotland and the Pacific Islanders before a five-season stretch in the national provincial championship with Auckland.

Super 14 is another deal altogether, especially when you are in charge of the Blues, who have underachieved since their last title triumph back in 2003.

After a tough debut season, Lam and his coaching assistants Shane Howarth and Liam Barry went through their reviews and started again. They dissected their plans, dismantled them then rebuilt them, working out where they could improve, what had been a success and where there were promising prospects for this campaign.

"We altered a number of our ideas, we tweaked things, we settled on the type of game we wanted to play and then moved towards finding the contenders for that style.

"Watching games then was easy as we filled in pieces of the jigsaw. It makes selection time a lot easier."

You suspect Lam is glossing over some anxieties as he needed draft picks, transfers and a few deals to fall into place before he could be certain that he was getting Serge Lilo, Alby Mathewson, Stephen Brett and Daniel Kirkpatrick to help with the problem axis in the side.

The 41-year-old Lam likened selection to watching guys play outstandingly at village level and then wondering whether they could transpose that dominance and skill to the greater demands of the Super 14.

Players had to be able to cope with all the physical aspects of the job, but also be capable of absorbing changing strategies, different conditions, have great defensive resilience to back up attacking clout and they had to be able to deal with the gruelling training and travel demands.

He wanted Keven Mealamu and Ali Williams as his senior leaders, but that plan hit a huge speed hump when Williams was sidelined from the series with a torn Achilles tendon.

"But that's the nature of the competition. You have to have cover and you have to have experience and they are all little things which bind sides. But you have to bind it all together on game day which is where we are heading this week."

Some of the emphasis had changed, with the players wanting to combine their skills sessions in a team environment instead of separating the concepts. So far so good, the concept had been productive.

They had also embraced the laws as they will be ruled on by referees this season at scrums and breakdowns. Last season, Lam thought the Blues were discouraged from attacking because there were so many turnovers at the tackle.

With the changes in interpretation, all of January was spent in practice and getting guidance from senior referees such as Bryce Lawrence and Chris Pollock - the Blues were at least tuned into the new rulings.

"I think the boys are adjusting, although it will still take some time to be second nature," Lam said.

"We have been working hard as well on building relationships with our new players, making them feel comfortable and capable of expressing themselves. The honeymoon is over now, this is it."

PLAYER TO WATCH: SERGE LILO

Settling on an openside flanker was one of the primary Blues selection tasks this season.

When all the talking stopped and the squad was revealed, Serge Lilo was unveiled as one of the men charged with wearing the side's No 7 jersey in this year's Super 14.

It is his third franchise after stints with the Hurricanes and Chiefs were interrupted by a knee injury which removed him from any work in the 2008 competition. Whether Lilo's flanker-for-hire routine steadies at the Blues will be one of the many questions hovering around the team this year as they search for a strong recovery from their last campaign.

Lilo and Tom Chamberlain are the opensiders with Lilo, at 24, the more experienced after starting his senior provincial rugby life against Auckland five years ago. He is edging towards 50 provincial matches and has eked out 21 Super appearances as a breakaway in the best mould of skilful, relentless men who occupy that role.

Last year, the Blues struggled through injury and consistency on their openside and have gone to the draft and Lilo in the hope of shoring up that area. He gets the first start and an immediate comparison against his former Hurricanes teammates tonight at Albany.