Rugby: Numbers stacking up against Lam

Blues coach Pat Lam will have read the riot act to his squad and has to make changes. Photo / Brett Phibbs

The Blues train like lions and play with the authority of disobedient cubs.

Coach Pat Lam has adopted a practice-like-we-mean-to-play approach this season, refusing to accept sloppy training sessions as aberrations. He believes daily discipline will morph into a weekend harvest.

But there was no meal against the Chiefs, not even a snack in a display of negligence to rate with the Blues' worst since they last won the Super rugby title in 2003. On this evidence, Lam's 2012 theory should be scrapped - shabby barely does it justice.

They missed 32 tackles and made a solitary line break in the Horror at Hamilton. In the medical washup, they lost Rudi Wulf and Jerome Kaino for their next two offshore games, against the Bulls and Stormers.

The Chiefs were inspired for their bonus-point 29-14 victory. They played with passion and skill as they showed how to deal with awkward wet-weather contests.

They deserved their win. They played constructive smart rugby while the Blues played with limited intelligence. It was a travesty that Sherwin Stowers was awarded a late try for getting close to the line as the Chiefs were at least a 20-point superior side.

When the Blues opened the series against the Crusaders they showed some strength, but there was a great deal of dross against the Chiefs on Friday.

Five All Blacks started in the Blues' pack. They will not all be there for the side's next match against the Bulls in Pretoria on Sunday.

Kaino could return from his shoulder injury to rejoin the team for the following game against the Stormers.

Captain Keven Mealamu is unlikely to cede his duties, but his work was below his best, and he needs to get more out of some colleagues.

Opensider Daniel Braid is coming under some heat from his younger brother, Luke, while test locks Ali Williams and Anthony Boric were part of a messy lineout and were light on workload around the track.

You could accept defeats if the Blues had played with some authority or looked like they were even interested. When Williams started kicking possession away it highlighted the team's fragility.

The Blues' ropey start has ramped up the pressure. If they return from the Republic without a win, they may have to win all remaining 12 matches to qualify as one of the two New Zealand sides in the playoffs.

Such obstacles can occur in the cut-throat conference system, but the Blues' worry will be their plummeting performance graph. They are out of sync, out of sorts, and now out in Africa. It could be the best place for them to regroup and gather some cohesion. They can circle their wagons, as the old explorers did when they ventured into the vast sunburnt continent, and get down to some business against the Bulls.

Lam will have read the riot act to his squad and threatened selection consequences. He has to make changes. Filo Paulo will be a chance to come into lock, and former All Black Brad Mika could also work there or No 8 to offer more sting than their celebrated teammates.

Around their forward fragility, the Blues have to deal with Piri Weepu's positional conundrum. He had 30 minutes as a five-eighths against the Crusaders and a similar spell at halfback against the Chiefs in a couple of solid showings. But his lack of fitness and the selection dithering have combined to create an uncertain undertone once more about part of the team spine which needs to be strengthened.

Many felt the malaise which has been with the Blues since their last title win would be redressed this season. Under Lam they have finished ninth, seventh and fourth, with he and his supporters fingering this as a year of richer results.

They might yet deliver - the round-robin doesn't finish until mid-July - but substantial change has to start this week. Otherwise the memories of 2006 will reopen - when the Blues lost their opening two matches and ended up staggering into eighth place.