An interesting stoush played out publicly in February after All Black loose forward Steven Luatua signed with ambitious English club Bristol.
It pitted former Blues coach Pat Lam against All Blacks supremo Steve Hansen. Lam was very much in Hansen’s sights after he had the temerity to sign the 13-test player to a two-year deal to play in England.
Hansen was clearly unhappy a 25-year-old in the prime of his career would spurn further national honours to play in the north, and he quickly took aim at Bristol coach Lam.
“He (Luatua) spoke briefly to the (NZR) contracts team, and he’s been tapped on the shoulder by Pat Lam which is disappointing too,” Hansen said.
“If you’re an ex-New Zealander you should be a bit mindful about players’ careers. But when they decide to go you’ve got to support them. Steven has made that decision so we’ll do that.”
Whack! Here was the national coach having a direct crack at the one-time former All Black. An ex-New Zealander though? I thought that was out of line and a totally unfair characterisation of a fellow professional coach simply doing what was best for his team.
Even if we give Hansen the benefit of a slip of the tongue, the underlying sentiment was still extremely patronising. In other words, Lam should have been acting in the best interests of New Zealand rugby and, by extension, Hansen himself.
To suggest Lam should be “mindful about players’ careers” was clearly insulting, and I eagerly awaited Lam’s response.
And that’s when things started to really hum. After leaving a number of unanswered messages to have Lam talk to us on Radio Sport, he released a statement firing back at Hansen.
“I am not sure why Steve Hansen would unprecedentedly choose to single me out publicly and call me an ‘ex-New Zealander’,” Lam said.
“I was born in New Zealand to hard working Samoan parents, I was educated in New Zealand and worked as a schoolteacher and a professional rugby coach in New Zealand.
“The only reason we don’t live in New Zealand at the moment is I had an opportunity to continue to coach rugby professionally in Ireland and support my family after being sacked by the NZRU and the Blues.”
“I believe many New Zealanders would also be offended to be labelled an ‘ex-New Zealander’ by the All Black coach, as he has great influence because of his position of privilege and responsibility in representing New Zealand worldwide.
“Who determines and judges who is a New Zealander and who isn’t? I don’t believe that has ever been the role of the All Black head coach.”
Now I think Pat Lam was slightly over-emotive in his reposte — no one actually agreed with Hansen’s assertion he is an ex-New Zealander. But I did like the fact he stood his ground and gave as good as he got.
The position of All Blacks coach can appear like a protected species, and seldom is he criticised so vehemently from within the New Zealand rugby establishment.
If Steve Hansen is entitled to want the best players to stay in New Zealand then, equally, overseas coaches are entitled to recruit those same players to better their squads.
It is called professional sport. Pat Lam wins this argument hands down.
